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A T U R 



RIVER SAGUENAY, 



LOWER CANADA 



BY 



CHAELES LANMAN, 

AUTHOR OF "a SUMMER IN THE WILDERNESS. 




PHILADELPHIA: 
CAREY AND HART. 

1848. 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by 

CAREY AND HART, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of 

Pennsylvania. 



S 



^ 



Philadelphia: 
/ o / '^ t. k. and p. g. collins, printers. 



TO 



SOLOMON T. NICOLL, ESQ., 



OF S-EW YORK CITT. 



My Dear Sir, 

To you, in testimony of my friendship, I inscribe this 
little volume. 

On a pleasant morning in May last, I awoke from a 
piscatorial dream, haunted by the idea that I must spend 
a portion of the approaching summer in the indulgence 
of my passion for angling. Relinquishing my editorial 
labors for a time, I performed a pilgrimage which has 
resulted in the production of this volume, and I hope it 
may entertain those of my friends and the public who 
have heretofore received my literary efforts with favor. 
The work will be found to contain a record of adventures 
in the valleys of the Hudson, St. Lawrence and St. Johns, 
and along some of the rivers of New England. 
Truly, your friend, 

CHARLES LANMAN. 

New York, Autumn of 1 847. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 



The Catskill Mountains — South Peak Mountain — A thunder storm — 
Midnight on the mountains — Sunrise — Plauterkill Clove — Peter 
Hummel— Trout fishing— Stony Clove — The Kauterskill Fall— The 
Mountain House — The Mountain Lake - - - 17 



CHAPTER n. 

A spring day — The sky — The mountains — The streams — The woods — 
The open fields — Domestic animals — Poetry — The poultry yard 36 

CHAPTER m. 
The Corn Piantmg Bee ----- 45 



CHAPTER IV. 

Lake Horicon — Sketches of its scenery — Information for anglers — Sab- 
bath Day Point — War memories — The insect city — Death of a deer 
Rogers' Slide — Diamond Island — The snake charmer — Snake stories 
— Night on Horicon ----- 50 



ab- ^ 



CHAPTER V. 

The Scaroon country — Scaroon Lake — Pike fishing by torchlight — Trout 
fishing — Lyndsay's Tavern — Paradox Lake - - 63 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Adirondac Mountains — Trout fishing in the Boreas River — A night 

— .in the woods — ^Moose Lake — Lake Delia — The Newcomb Farm — 

Mount Tahawus — The Indian Pass — Lakes Sanford and Henderson 

— The Mclntyre iron works - ... 70 

CHAPTER VIL 

John Cheney, the Adirondac hunter — Some of his exploits - 83 

CHAPTER VIH. 
Burlington — Lake Champlain — ^Distinguished men - - 93 

CHAPTER IX. 

Stage coach — TheWinooski — The Green Mountains — The ruined dwell- 
ing — The White Mountains — The Flume — A deep pool — The Old 
Man of the Mountains — The Basin — Franconia Notch — View of the 
mountains — Mount Washington — The Notch Valley - 103 

CHAPTER X. 
Montreal ------- 115 

CHAPTER XI. 
Quebec 120 

CHAPTER XII. 
A sail down the St. Lawrence — Sword-fish chasing a whale 125 

CHAPTER Xin. 

The Saguenay River — Storm picture — The Hudson's Bay Company — 
Eminent merchant — The Mountaineer Indians — Tadousac — Ruin of 
a Jesuit estabhshment - - - - - 131 



CONTENTS. Vli 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The salmon — Several adventures - - . . 140 

CHAPTER XV. 
Seal hunting on the St. Lawrence — The white porpoise - 151 

CHAPTER XVI. 
The Esquimaux Indians of Labrador - - - 156 

CHAPTER XVn. 

The Habitans of Canada - - - • - 160 

CHAPTER XVin. 

The Grand Portage into New Brunswick — Lake Timiscouta — The 
Madawaska River - - - - - 165 

CHAPTER XIX. 
The Acadians ..---- 170 

CHAPTER XX. 

Sail down the Madawaska— The Falls of the St. John - 174 

CHAPTER XXI. 
The Hermit of Aroostook - ... - 178 



CHAPTER XXn. 

J 
The River St. John 193 



CHAPTER XXIIL 
The Penobscot River ..... 197 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



Y CHAPTER XXIV. 

Moosehead Lake and the Kennebeck River - - • 201 

CHAPTER XXV. 

A fishing party on the Thames — Watch Hill — Night adventures 210 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

A week in a fishing smack — Fishermen — A beautifixl morning at sea — 
A day at Nantucket — Wreck of a ship — Night on the Sound — Safe 
arrival 222 



A TOUR 



RIVER SAGUENAY, 



CHAPTER I. 

The Catskill Mountains — South Peak Mountain — A thunder storm — 
Midnight on the mountains — Sunrise — Plauterkill Clove — Peter 
Hummel — Trout fishing — Stony Clove — The Kauterskill Fall — The 
Mountain House — The Mountain Lake. 

Plauterkill Clove, May. 
I COMMENCE this chapter in the language of Leather Stock- 
ing: — "You know the Catskills, lad, for you must have seen 
them on your left, as you followed the river up from York, 
looking as blue as a piece of clear sky, and holding the clouds 
on their tops, as the smoke curls over the head of an Indian 
chief at a council-fire." Yes, everybody is acquainted with 
the names of these mountains, but few with their peculiari- 
ties of scenery. They are situated about eight miles from 
the Hudson, rise to an average elevation of about thirty-five 
hundred feet, and running in a straight line from north to 
south, cover a space of some twenty-five miles. The fertile 
valley on the east is as beautiful as heart could desire ; it is 
watered by the Kauterskill, Plauterkill and Esopus creeks, 
2 



18 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

inhabited by a sturdy Dutch yeomanry, and is the agricultural 
mother of Catskill, Saugerties and Kingston. The upland on 
the west for about forty miles is rugged, dreary and thinly set- 
tled, but the winding valley of Schoharie beyond is possessed 
of many charms peculiarly American. The mountains them- 
selves are covered with dense forests abounding in cliffs and 
waterfalls, and for the most part untrodden by the footsteps 
of man. Looking at them from the Hudson, the eye is at- 
tracted by two deep hollows, which are called " Cloves." 
The one nearest to the Mountain House, Kauterskill Clove, 
is distinguished for a remarkable fall, which has been made 
familiar to the world by the pen of Bryant and the pencil of 
Cole ; but this Clove is rapidly filling up with human habita- 
tions ; while the other, Plauterkill Clove, though yet possess- 
ing much of its original glory, is certain of the same destiny. 
The gorge whence issues the Esopus, is among the Shanda- 
ken mountains, and not visible from the Hudson. 

My nominal residence, at the present time, is at the mouth 
of Plauterkill Clove. To the west, and only half a mile 
from my abode, are the beautiful mountains, whose outlines 
fade away to the north, like the waves of the sea when 
covered with a visible atmosphere. The nearest, and to me 
the most beloved of these, is called South Peak. It is nearly 
four thousand feet high, and covered from base to summit 
with one vast forest of trees, varying from eighty to an hun- 
dred feet in height. Like its brethren, it is a wild and unculti- 
vated wilderness, abounding in all the interesting features of 
mountain scenery. Like a corner-stone, does it stand at the 
junction of the northern and western ranges of the Catskills ; 
and as its huge form looms against the evening sky, it inspires 
one with awe, as if it were the ruler of the world: — yet I 
have learned to love it as a friend. I have pondered upon 
its impressive features when reposing in the noontide sun- 
shine, when enveloped in clouds, when holding communion 



SOUTH PEAK.— hunter's HOLE. 19 

with the most holy night, and when trembling under the in- 
fluence of a thunder-storm and encircled by a rainbow. It 
has filled my soul with images of beauty and sublimity, and 
made me feel the omnipotence of God. 

A day and a night was it lately my privilege to spend 
upon this mountain, accompanied by a poet friend. We 
started at an early hour, equipped in our brown fustians, and 
laden with well-filled knapsacks — one with a hatchet in his 
belt, and the other with a brace of pistols. We were bound 
to the extreme summit of the peak, where we intended to 
spend the night, witness the rising of the sun, and return at 
our leisure on the following day. But when I tell my read- 
ers that our course lay right up the almost perpendicular side 
of the mountain, where there was no path save that formed 
by a torrent or a bear, they will readily believe it was some- 
what rare and romantic. But this was what we delighted 
in ; so we shouted " excelsior!" and commenced the ascent. 
The air was excessively sultry, and the very first effort we 
made caused the perspiration to start most profusely. Up- 
ward, upward was our course, now climbing through a tan- 
gled thicket, or under the spray of a cascade, and then, again, 
supporting ourselves by the roots of saplings, or scrambling 
under a fallen tree ; — now, like the samphire gatherer, scaling 
a precipice, and then again clambering over a rock, or " shin- 
ning" up a hemlock tree to reach a desired point. 

Our first halt was made at a singular spot called " Hunter's 
Hole," which is a spacious cavern or pit, forty feet deep, 
and twenty wide, and approached only by a fissure in the moun- 
tain, sufficiently large to admit a man. Connected with this 
place is the following story. Many years ago, a farmer, resid- 
ing at the foot of the mountain, having missed a favorite dog, 
and being anxious for his safety, called together his neighbors, 
and offered a reward for the safe return of his canine friend. 
Always ready to do a kind deed, a number of them started 



20 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

in different directions for the hunt. A barking sound having 
been heard to issue from this cavern, it was discovered, and 
at the bottom of it the lost dog, which had probably fallen 
therein while chasing a fox. " But how shall he be extri- 
cated from this hole?" was the general inquiry of the now 
assembled hunters. Not one of all the group would venture 
to descend, under any circumstances ; so that the poor animal 
remained a prisoner for another night. But the next morn- 
ing he was released, and by none other than a brave boy, 
the son of the farmer and playmate of the dog. A large 
number of men were present on the occasion. A strong 
rope was tied around the body of the child, and he was gently 
lowered down. On reaching the bottom, and finding, by the 
aid of his lamp, that he was in a "real nice place," the little 
rogue concluded to have some sport, whereupon he proceeded 
to pull down more rope, until he had made a coil of two 
hundred feet, which was bewildering enough to the crowd 
above ; but nothing happened to him during the adventure, 
and the dog was rescued. The young hero having played 
his trick so well, it was generally supposed, for a long 
time after, that this cavern was two hundred feet deep, 
and none were ever found sufficiently bold to enter in, even 
after a beautiful fox. The bravery of the boy, however, 
was the cause of his death, for he was cut down by a leaden 
ball in the war of 1812. 

The next remarkable place that we attained in ascending 
South Peak, was the Bear Bank, where, in the depth of win- 
ter, may be found an abundance of these charming creatures. 
It is said that they have often been seen sunning themselves, 
even from the hills east of the Hudson. 

We were now upon a beetling precipice, three hundred 
feet high, and under the shadow of a huge pine, we enjoyed 
a slice of bread and pork, with a few drops of genuine 
mountain dew. Instead of a dessert of strawberries and 



A THUNDER STORM. 21 

cream, however, we were furnished by venerable dame Na- 
ture with a thunder-storm. It was one that we had noticed 
making a great commotion in the valley below. It had, pro- 
bably, discovered two bipeds going towards its home, the 
sky, and seemed to have pursued us with a view of fright- 
ening us back again. But, " knowing that Nature never did 
betray the heart that loved her," we awaited the thunder- 
storm's reply to our obstinate refusal to descend. The cloud 
was yet below us, but its unseen herald, a strong east wind, 
told us that the conflict had commenced. Presently, a peal 
of thunder resounded through the vast profound, which caused 
the mountain to tremble to its deep foundation. And then 
followed another, and another, as the storm increased ; and 
the rain and hail poured down in floods. Thinking it more 
safe to expose ourselves to the storm than remain under the 
pine, we retreated without delay, when we were suddenly 
enveloped in the heart of the cloud, only a few rods distant. 
Then a stroke of lightning blinded us, and the towering fo- 
rest monarch was smitten to the earth. We were in the 
midst of an unwritten epic poem about that time, but we 
could not appreciate its beauties, for another peal of thunder, 
and another stroke of lightning, attracted our whole attention. 
Soon as these had passed, a terrible gale followed in their 
wake, tumbling down piles of loose rocks, and bending to the 
dust, as though in passion, the resisting forms of an army of 
trees; and afterwards, a glorious rainbow spanned the moun- 
tain, appearing like those distinguishing circles around the 
temples of the Mighty and Holy, as portrayed by the painters 
of old. The commotion lasted for an hour, when the region 
of the Bear Bank became as serene as the slumber of a babe. 
A spirit of silent prayer was brooding upon the earth and in 
the air, and with a shadow of thoughtfulness at our hearts, 
we resumed our upward march. 

Our next halting place was upon a sort of peninsula called 



22 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

the Eagle's Nest, where, it is said, an Indian child was former- 
ly carried by one of those birds, and cruelly destroyed, and 
whence the frantic mother, with the mangled body of her 
babe, leaped into the terrible abyss below. From this point 
we discovered a host of clouds assembled in council above 
High Peak, as if discussing the parched condition of the 
earth, and the speediest mode of affording relief to a still 
greater extent than they had done; and far away to the west, 
was another assembly of clouds, vying, like sporting chil- 
dren, to outrun and overleap each other in their aerial am- 
phitheatre. 

After this we surmounted another point called Rattlesnake 
Ledge. Here the rocks were literally covered with the white 
bones of those reptiles, slaughtered by the hunter in by-gone 
years, and we happened to see a pair of them that were 
alive. One was about four feet long, and the other, which 
was only half as large, seemed to be the offspring of the old 
one, for, when discovered, they were playing together like 
an affectionate mother with her tender child. Soon as we 
appeared in their presence, the serpents immediately ceased 
their sport, and in the twinkling of an eye coiled themselves 
in the attitude of battle. The conflict was of short duration, 
and to know the result you need only look into my cabinet 
of curiosities. 

Higher yet was it our lot to climb. We went a little out 
of our course to obtain a bird's-eye view of a mountain lake. 
In its tranquil bosom the glowing evening sky and mountain 
sides were vividly reflected, and the silence surrounding it 
was so profound that we could almost hear the ripples made 
by a solitary duck, as it swam from one shore to the other 
in its utter loneliness. Very beautiful, indeed, was this pic- 
ture, and as I reflected upon it, I thought that as the Infant 
of Bethlehem was tenderly protected by the parents who 



MIDNIGHT ON THE MOUNTAINS. 

watched over its slumbers, so was this exquisite lake cra- 
dled and protected in the lap of the mountains. 

One sight more did we behold before reaching the summit 
of South Peak. It was the sunset hour, and on a jutting 
cliff which commanded an immense view, our eyes were de- 
lighted by the sight of a deer, standing still, and looking 
down upon the silent void below, which was then covered 
with a deep purple atmosphere, causing the prospect to re- 
semble the boundless ocean. It was the last of its race we 
could not but fancy, bidding the human world good night, 
previous to taking to its heathery couch in a nameless 
ravine. 

One effort more and the long-desired eminence Avas at- 
tained, and we were a litde nearer the evening star than we 
had ever been before. It was now the hour of twilight, and 
as we were about done over with fatigue, it was not long 
before we had pitched our leafy tent, eaten some supper, and 
yielded ourselves to the embrace of sleep, " dear mother of 
fresh thoughts and joyous health !" 

At midnight, a cooling breath of air having passed across 
my face, I was awakened from a fearful dream, which left 
me in a nervous and excited state of mind. A strange and 
solemn gloom had taken possession of my spirit, which was 
greatly enhanced by the doleful song of a neighboring hem- 
lock grove. Our encampment having been made a little 
below the summit of the peak, and feeling anxious to behold 
the prospect at that hour, from that point, I awakened my 
companion, and we seated ourselves upon the topmost rock, 
which was nearly bare of shrubs, but covered with a rich 
moss, softer and more beautiful than the finest carpet. But 
how can I describe the scene that burst upon our enraptured 
vision? It was unlike anything I had ever seen before, 
creating a lone, lost feeling, which I supposed could only be 
realized by a wanderer in an uninhabited wilderness, or on 



24 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

the ocean, a thousand leagues from home. Above, around 
and beneath us, ay, far beneath us, were the cold bright 
stars, and to the eastward the " young moon with the old 
moon in her arms." In the west were floating a little band 
of pearly clouds, which I almost fancied to be winged cha- 
riots, and that they were crowded with children, the absent 
and loved of other years, who, in a frolic of blissful joy, were 
out upon the fields of heaven. On one side of us reposed 
the long broad valley of the Hudson, with its cities, towns, 
villages, woods, hills and plains, whose crowded highway 
was diminished to a narrow girdle of deep blue. Towards 
the south, hill beyond hill, field beyond field receded to the 
sky, occasionally enlivened by a peaceful lake. On our right 
a multitudinous array of rugged mountains lay piled up, 
apparently as impassable as the bottomless gulf. In the 
north, old High Peak, King of the Catskills, bared his bosom 
to the moonlight, as if demanding and expecting the homage 
of the world. Strange and magnificent, indeed, was the pros- 
pect from that mountain watch-tower, and it was with reluc- 
tance that we turned away, as in duty bound, to slumber 
until the dawn. The dawn! and now for a sunrise picture 
among the mountains, with all the illusive performances of 
the mists and clouds ! He comes ! he comes! " the king of 
the bright days !" Now the crimson and golden clouds are 
parting, and he bursts on the bewildered sight! One mo- 
ment more, and the whole earth rejoices in his beams, falling 
alike as they do upon the prince and the peasant of every 
land. And now, on either side and beneath the sun an array 
of new-born clouds are gathering — like a band of cavaliers, 
preparing to accompany their leader on a journey. Out of 
the Atlantic have they just arisen; at noon, they will have 
pitched their tents on the cerulean plains of heaven ; and 
when the hours of day are numbered, the far-off waters of 
the Pacific will again receive them in its cool embrace. 



PLAUTERKILL CLOVE. 25 

Listen ! was not that the roar of waves ? Naught but the report 
of thunder in the valley below. Are not the two oceans coming 
together ? See ! we are on a rock in the midst of an illimita- 
ble sea, and the tide is surely rising — rising rapidly ! Strange ! 
it is still as death, and yet the oceans are covered with bil- 
lows ! Lo ! the naked masts of a ship, stranded on a lee 
shore ! — and yonder, as if a reef were hidden there to impede 
their course, the waves are struggling in despair, now leaping 
to the sky, and now plunging into a deep abyss ! And 
when they have passed the unseen enemy, how rapid and 
beautiful are their various evolutions, as they hasten to the 
more distant shore ! Another look, and what a change ! 
The mists of morning are being exhaled by the rising sun, 
already the world of waters is dispersed, and in the valley of 
the Hudson, far, far away, are reposing all the enchanting 
features of the green earth. 

We descended the mountain by a circuitous route, that we 
might enjoy the luxury of passing through Plauterkill Clove. 
The same spring that gives rise to Schoharie Creek, which 
is the principal tributary of the Mohawk, also gives rise to the 
Plauterkill. In its very infancy, it begins to leap and laugh 
with the gladness of a boy. From its source to the plain, the 
distance is only two miles, and yet it has a fall of twenty-five 
hundred feet ; but the remainder of its course, until it reaches 
the Esopus, is calm and picturesque, and on every side, and 
at every turn, may be seen the farm-houses of a sturdy yeo- 
manry. 

The wild gorge or dell through which it passes, abounds 
in waterfalls of surpassing beauty, varying from ten to a hun- 
dred feet in height, whose rocks are green with the moss of 
centuries, and whose brows are ever wreathed with the most 
exquisite of vines and flowers. Here is the double leap, 
with its almost fathomless pool, containing a hermit trout 
that has laughed at the angler's skill for a score of years ; 



26 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

the fall of the Mountain Spirit, haunted, as it is said, by the 
disembodied spirit of an Indian girl, who lost her life here 
while pursuing a phantom of the brain ; and here is the 
Blue-bell Fall, forever guarded by a multitudinous array of 
those charming flowers. Caverns, too, and chasms are here, 
dark, deep, chilly and damp; where the toad, the lizard and 
snake, and strange families of insects, are perpetually multi- 
plying, and actually seeming to enjoy their loathsome lives ; 
and here is the Black Chasm, and the Devil's Chamber, the 
latter with a perpendicular wall of twice the height of old 
Trinity, and with a wainscoting of pines and hemlocks which 
have " braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze." 
Plauterkill Clove is an eddy of the great and tumultuous 
world, and in itself a world of unwritten poetry, whose pri- 
mitive loveliness has not yet been disfigured by the influence 
of Mammon. It has been consecrated by a brotherhood of 
friends, well-tried and true, to the pure religion of Nature ; 
and after spending a summer-day therein, and then emerging 
under the open sky, their feelings are always allied to those 
of a pilgrim in a strange land, passing through the dreamy 
twilight of an old cathedral. 

But it is time that I should change my tune, as I desire to 
record a few fishing adventures which I have lately experi- 
enced among the Catskills. My first excursion was per- 
formed along the margin of Sweetwater Brook, which flows 
out of the lake already mentioned. My guide and companion 
was a notorious hunter of this region, named Peter Hummel, 
whose services I have engaged for all my future rambles 
among the mountains. He is, decidedly, one of the wildest 
and rarest characters I have ever known, and would be a 
valuable acquisition to a menagerie. He was born in a little 
hut at the foot of South Peak, is twenty-seven years of age, 
and has never been to school a day in his life, nor, in his tra- 
vels towards civilization, further away from home than fifteen 



PETER HUMMEL. TROUT FISHING. 27 

miles. He was educated for a bark-gatherer, his father and 
several brothers having always been in the business ; but 
Peter is averse to common-place labor, to anything, in fact, 
that will bring money. When a boy of five years, he had 
an inkling for the mountains, and once had wandered so far, 
that he was found by his father in the den of an old bear, 
playing with her cubs. To tramp among the mountains, with 
a gun and dog, is Peter's chief and only happiness. He is, 
probably, one of the best specimens of a hunter now living ; 
and very few, I fancy, could have survived the dangers to 
which he has exposed himself. As to his constitution, he 
seems to be one of those iron mortals who never die with age 
and infirmity, but who generally meet with a sudden death, 
as if to recompense them for their heedlessness. But with 
all his wildness and recklessness, Peter Hummel is as amia- 
ble and kind-hearted a man as ever breathed. He is an ori- 
ginal wit withal, and shrewd and very laughable are many of 
his speeches, and his stories are the cream of romance and 
genuine mountain poetry. 

But to my story. As usual, we started on our tramp at an 
early hour, he with a trout-basket in his hand, containing 
our dinner, and I with my sketch-book and a " pilgrim staff." 
After a tiresome ascent of three hours up the side of a moun- 
tain, over ledges, and through gloomy ravines, we at last 
reached the wished-for brook. All the day long were we 
cheered by its happy song, as we descended ; now leaping 
from one deep pool to another, and now scrambling over 
green-coated rocks, under and around fallen trees, and along 
the damp, slippery sides of the mountains, until we reached 
its mouth on a plain, watered by a charming river, and sprin- 
kled with the rustic residences of the Dutch yeomanry. We 
were at home by sunset, having walked the distance of 
twenty miles, and captured one hundred and fifty trout, the 
most of which we distributed among the farm-houses in our 



28 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

way, as we returned. The trout were quite small, varying 
from three to eight ounces in weight, and of a dark-brown 
color. 

On another occasion, I had taken my sketch-book and 
some fishing tackle, and gone up a mountain road to the banks 
of Schoharie Creek, nominally for the purpose of sketching 
a few trees. In the very first hole of the stream into which 
I accidentally peered, I discovered a large trout, lying near 
the bottom, just above a little bed of sand, whence rose the 
bubbles of a spring. For some thirty minutes I watched the 
fellow with a " yearning tenderness," but as he appeared to 
be so very happy, and I was in a kindred mood, I thought 
that I would let him live. Presently, however, a beautiful 
fly lighted on the water, which the greedy hermit swallowed 
in a minute, and returned to his cool bed, with his conscience, 
as I fancied, not one whit troubled by what he had done. 
Involuntarily I began to unwind my line, and having cut a 
pole, and repeated to myself something about " diamond cut 
diamond," I whipped on a red hackle, and passed it over 
the pool. The rogue of a trout, however, saw me, and 
scorned for awhile to heed my line; but I coaxed and coaxed 
until, at last, he darted for it, apparently out of mere spite. 
Something similar to a miniature water-spout immediately 
arose, and the monarch of the brook was in a fair way of 
sharing the same fate which had befallen the innocent fly. 
I learned a salutary lesson from this incident, and as I had 
yielded to the temptation of the brook, I shouldered my 
sketch-book with a strap, and descended the stream. At 
noon, I reached a farm-house, where I craved something to 
eat. A good dinner was given me, which was seasoned by 
many questions, and some information concerning trout. 
That afternoon, in company with a little boy, 1 visited a 
neighboring stream, called the Roaring Kill, where I caught 
one hundred and sixty fish. I then returned to the farm- 



STONY CLOVE. CATSKILL FALLS. 29 

house, and spent the evening in conversation with my new 
acquaintances. After breakfast, on the following morning, I 
set out for home, and reached there about noon, having made 
only two additions to my sketches. Long shall I remember 
the evening spent with this family, and their hospitality to- 
wards an entire stranger. A pleasant family was that night 
added to my list of friends. 

Another of my trouting pilgrimages was to a famous place 
called Stony Clove, among the mountains of Shandaken. 
It is a deep perpendicular cut or gorge between two moun- 
tains, two thousand feet in depth, from twenty feet to four 
hundred in width, and completely lined from base to summit 
with luxuriant vegetation. It is watered by a narrow but 
deep brook, which is so full of trout that some seven hundred 
were captured by myself and two others in a single day. 
AVhen I tell my readers that this spot is only about one hun- 
dred miles from New York, they will be surprised to learn 
that in its immediate vicinity we saw no less than two bears, 
one doe with two fawns, and other valuable game. In some 
parts of this clove the sunshine never enters, and whole tons 
of the purest ice may be found there throughout the year. 
It is, indeed, a most lonely and desolate corner of the world, 
and might be considered a fitting type of the valley of the 
shadow of death ; in single file did we have to pass through 
that gorge, and in single file do the sons of men pass into the 
grave. To spend one day there we had to encamp two 
nights, and how we generally manage that affair I will men- 
tion presently. 

In returning from Stony Clove, we took a circuitous route 
and visited the Mountain House. We approached it by way 
of the celebrated Catskill Falls, which I will describe in the 
graphic language of Cooper, as my readers may not remem- 
ber the passage in his Pioneer. " Why, there's a fall in the 
hills, where the water of two little ponds, that lie near each 



30 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

Other, breaks out of their bounds, and runs over the rocks 
into the valley. The stream is, may be, such a one as would 
turn a mill, if so useless a thing was wanted in the wilder- 
ness. But the hand that made that '"Leaf never made a 
mill! Then the water comes croaking and winding among 
the rocks, first so slow that a trout might swim in it, and 
then starting and running, like any creature that wanted to 
make a fair spring, till it gets to where the mountain divides, 
like the cleft foot of a deer, leaving a deep hollow for the 
brook to tumble into. The first pitch is nigh two hundred 
feet, and the water looks like flakes of snow afore it touches 
the bottom, and then gathers itself together again for a new 
start, and, may be, flutters over fifty feet of flat rock, before 
it falls for another hundred feet, when it jumps from shelf to 
shelf, first running this way and that way, striving to get out 
of the hollow, till it finally comes to the plain." 

Our party, on this occasion, consisted of three — Peter 
Hummel, a bark-gatherer and myself. I had chosen these 
fellows for the expedition, because of their friendship for me 
and their willingness to go ; and I resolved to give them a 
"treat" at the " Grand Hotel," which the natives of this re- 
gion look upon as a kind of paradise. You are aware, I 
suppose, reader, that the Mountain House is an establishment 
vying in its style of accommodations with the best of hotels. 
Between it and the Hudson, there is, during the summer, a 
semi-daily line of stages, and it is the transient resort of thou- 
sands, who visit it for the novelty of its location as well as 
for the surrounding scenery. The edifice itself stands on a 
cliff*, within a few feet of the edge, and commands a prospect 
extending from Long Island Sound to the White Mountains. 
The first time I visited this spot, I spent half the night at my 
bed-room window, watching the fantastic performances of a 
thunder-storm far below me, which made the building tremble 
like a ship upon a reef, while the sky above was cloudless, 



THE MOUNTAIN HOUSE. 31 

and studded with stars. Between this spot and South Peak, 
" there's the High Peak and the Round Top, which lay back, 
like a father and mother among their children, seeing they 
are far above all the other hills." 

But to proceed. Coarsely and comically dressed as we 
were, we made a very unique appearance as we paraded into 
the office of the hotel. I met a few acquaintances there to 
whom I introduced my comrades, and in a short time each 
one was spinning a mountain legend to a crowd of delighted 
listeners. In due time I ushered them into the dininsf-hall, 
where was enacted a scene which can be better imagined 
than described; the fellows were completely out of their ele- 
ment, and it was laughable in the extreme, to see them stare 
and hear them talk, as the servants bountifully helped them to 
the turtle soup, ice-cream, charlotte russe and other fashion- 
able dainties. 

About the middle of the afternoon we commenced descend- 
ing the beautiful mountain-road leading towards the Hudson. 
In the morning there had been a heavy shower, and a thou- 
sand happy rills attended us with a song. A delightful nook 
on this road is pointed out as the identical spot where Rip 
Van Winkle slept away a score of his life. I reached home 
in time to spend the twilight hour in my own room, musing 
upon the much-loved mountains. I had but one companion, 
and that was a whippoorwill, which nighdy comes to my 
w4ndow-sill, as if to tell me a tale of its love, or. of the 
woods and solitary wilderness. 

But the most unique and interesting of my fishing adven- 
tures remains to be described. I had heard a great deal about 
the good fishing afforded by the lake already mentioned, and 
I desired to visit it and spend a night upon its shore. Hav- 
ing spoken to my friend Hummel, and invited a neighbor to 
accompany us, whom the people had named " White Yan- 
kee," the noontide hour of a pleasant day found us on our 



33 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

winding march: and such a grotesque appearance as we 
made was exceedingly amusing. The group was mostly 
animated when climbing the steep and rocky ravines which 
we were compelled to pass through. There was Peter, 
"long, lank, and lean," and wild in his attire and counte- 
nance as an eagle of the wilderness, with an axe in his hand, 
and a huge knapsack on his back, containing our provisions 
and utensils for cooking. Next to him followed White 
Yankee, with three blankets lashed upon his back, a slouched 
white hat on his head, and nearly half a pound of tobacco 
in his mouth'. Crooked-legged withal, and somewhat sickly 
was this individual, and being wholly unaccustomed to this 
kind of business, he went along groaning, grunting, and 
sweating, as if he was "sent for and didn't ivant to come." 
In the rear tottered along your humble friend, dear reader, 
with a gun upon his shoulder, a powder-horn and shot-pouch 
at his side, cowhide boots on his feet, and a cap on his head, 
his beard half an inch long, and his flowing hair streaming in 
the wind. 

We reached our place of destination about five o'clock, 
and halted under a large impending rock, which was to be 
our sleeping place. We were emphatically under the "sha- 
dow of a rock in a weary land." Our first business was to 
build a fire, which we did with about one cord of green and 
dry wood. Eighty poles were then cut, to which we fast- 
ened our lines. The old canoe in the lake was bailed out, 
and, having baited our hooks with the minnows we had 
brought with us, we planted the poles in about seven feet 
water all around the lake shore. We then prepared and ate 
our supper, and awaited the coming on of night. During 
this interval I learned from Peter the following particulars 
concerning the lake. It was originally discovered by a 
hunter named Shew. It is estimated to cover about fifty 
acres, and in the centre to be more than two hundred feet in 



PETER AND WHITE YANKEE. 33 

depth. For my part, however, I do not believe it contains 
over five acres, though the mountains which tower on every 
side but one, are calculated to deceive the eye; but, as to its 
depth, I could easily fancy it to be bottomless, for the water 
is remarkably dark. To the number of trout in this lake 
there seems to be no end. It is supposed they reach it, 
when small, through Sweetwater Brook, when they increase 
in size, and multiply. It also abounds in green and scarlet 
lizards, which are a serious drawback to the pleasures of 
the fastidious angler. I asked Peter many questions con- 
cerning his adventures about the lake, and he told me that 
the number of "harmless murders" he had committed here 
was about three hundred. In one day he shot three deer; 
at another time a dozen turkeys ; at another twenty ducks ; 
one night an old bear; and again half-a-dozen coons; and 
on one occasion annihilated a den of thirty-seven rattle- 
snakes. 

At nine o'clock we lighted a torch, and went to examine 
our lines ; and it was my good fortune to haul out not less 
than forty-one trout, weighing from one to two pounds 
a-piece. These we put into a spring of very cold water, 
which bubbled from the earth a few paces from our camping 
place, and then retired to repose. Branches of hemlock 
constituted our couch, and my station was between Peter 
and White Yankee. Little did I dream, when I first saw 
these two bipeds, that I should ever have them for my bed- 
fellows ; but who can tell what shall be on the morrow ? My 
friends were in the land of Nod in less than a dozen minutes 
after we had retired; but it was difficult for me to go to 
sleep in the midst of the wild scene which surrounded me. 
There I lay, flat on my back, a stone and my cap for a pillow, 
and wrapped in a blanket, with my nose exposed to the 
chilly night air. And what pictures did my fancy conjure 
up, as I looked upon the army of trunks around me, glist- 
3 



34 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

ening in the firelight. One moment they were a troop of 
Indians from the spirit-land, come to revisit again the hunt- 
ing-grounds of their fathers, and weeping because the white 
man had desecrated their soil; and again I fancied them to 
be a congress of wild animals, assembled to try, execute, 
and devour us, for the depredations our fellows had commit- 
ted upon their kind during the last one hundred years. By 
and by a star peered out upon me from between the branches 
of a tree, and my thoughts ascended heavenward. And now 
my eyes twinkled and blinked in sympathy with the star, 
and I was a dreamer. 

An hour after the witching time of night, I was startled 
from my sleep by a bellowing halloo from Peter, who said 
it was time to examine the lines again. Had you heard the 
echoes which were then awakened, far and near, you would 
have thought yourself in enchanted land. But there were 
living answers to that shout, for a frightened fox began to 
bark, an owl commenced its horrible hootings, a partridge its 
drumming, and a wolf its howl. There was not a breeze 
stirring, and 

"Naught was seen in the vault on high 
But the moon and the stars and a cloudless sky, 
And a river of white in the welkin blue." 

Peter and Yankee went out to haul in the trout, but I re- 
mained on shore to attempt a drawing, by moonlight, of the 
lake before me. The opposite side of the mountain, with 
its dark tangled forests, was perfectly mirrored in the waters 
below, the whole seeming as solid and variegated as a tablet 
of Egyptian marble. The canoe with its inmates noiselessly 
pursued its way, making the stillness more profound. In 
the water at my feet I distinctly saw lizards sporting ■^about, 
and I could not but wonder why such reptiles were ever 
created. I thought with the Ancient Mariner, 
" A thousand slimy things lived on, 
And so did I." 



GAME. 35 

Again did we retire to rest, slumbering until the break of 
day. We then partook of a substantial trout breakfast, 
gathered up our plunder, and with about one hundred hand- 
some trout, started for home. 

The accidents we met with during the night were harm- 
less, though somewhat ridiculous. A paper of matches 
which Peter carried in his breeches-pocket took fire, and 
gave him such a scorching that he bellowed lustily; — while 
Yankee, in his restless slumbers, rolled so near our watch- 
fire, that he barely escaped with a corner of his blanket, the 
remainder having been consumed. As for me I only fell into 
the water among the lizards, while endeavoring to reach the 
end of a log which extended into the lake. In descending 
the mountain we shot three partridges, and confoundedly 
frightened a fox, and by the middle of the afternoon were 
quietly pursuing our several avocations among our fellow 
men of the lower world. 



CHAPTER II. 

A spring day — The sky — The mountains — The streams — The woods 
— The open fields — Domestic animals — Poetry — The poultry yard. 

Plauterkill Clove, May. 

May is near its close, and I am still in the valley of the 
Hudson. Spring is indeed come again, and this, for the 
present year, has been its day of triumph. The moment I 
awoke, at dawn, this morning, I knew by intuition that it 
would be so, and I bounded from my couch like a startled 
deer, impatient for the cool delicious air. Spring is upon 
the earth once more, and a new life is given me of enjoy- 
ment and hope. The year is in its childhood, and my 
heart clings to it with a sympathy that I feel must be im- 
mortal and divine. What I have done to-day I cannot tell. 
I only know that my body has been tremulous with feeling, 
and my eyes almost blinded with seeing. Every hour has 
been fraught with a new emotion of delight, and presented 
to my vision numberless pictures of surpassing beauty. T 
have held communion with the sky, the mountains, the 
streams, the woods, and the fields ; and these, if you please, 
shall be the themes of my present chapter. 

The sky! it has been of as deep an azure and as serene 
as ever canopied the world. It seemed as if you could look 
through it into the illimitable home of the angels — could 



SPRING. 37 

almost behold the glory which surrounds the Invisible. 
Three clouds alone have attracted my attention. One was 
the offspring of the dawn, and encircled by a rim of gold ; 
the next was the daughter of noon, and white as the driven 
snow, and the last, of evening, and robed in deepest crimson. 
Wayward and coquettish creatures were these clouds ! their 
chief ambition seemed to be to display their charms to the 
best advantage, as if conscious of their loveliness; and, at 
sunset, when the light lay pillowed on the mountains, it was 
a joyous sight to see them, side by side, like three sweet 
sisters, as they were, going home. Each one was anxious 
to favor the world with its own last smile, and by their 
changing places so often, you would have thought they 
were all unwilling to depart. But they were the ministers 
of the sun, and he would not tarry for them; and while he 
beckoned them to follow on, the evening star took his sta- 
tion in the sky, and bade them depart; and when I looked 
again, they were gone. Never more, thought I, will those 
clouds be a source of joy to a human heart. And in this 
respect, also, they seemed to me to be the emblems of those 
beautiful but thoughtless maidens, who spend the flower of 
youth trifling with the affections of all whom they have the 
power to fascinate. 

The mountains! in honor of the season which has just 
clothed them in the richest green, they have, this day, dis- 
played every one of their varied and interesting charms. At 
noon, as I lay under the shadow of a tree, watching them 
" with a look made of all sweet accord," my face was fresh- 
ened by a breeze. It appeared to come from the summit of 
South Peak, and to be the voice of the Catskills. I listened, 
and these were the words which echoed through my ear. 

" Of all the seasons, oh Spring ! thou art the most be- 
loved, and, to us, always the most welcome. Joy and glad- 
ness ever attend thy coming, for we know that the ' winter is 



38 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

past, the rains are over and gone, the time of the singing 
of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our 
land.' And we know, too, that from thy hands flow unnum- 
bered blessings. Thou softenest the earth, that the husband- 
man may sow his seed, which shall yield him a thousand 
fold at the harvest. Thou releasest the rivers from their icy 
fetters, that the wings of commerce may be unfurled once 
more. Thou givest food to the cattle upon a thousand hills, 
that they, in their turn, may furnish man with necessary food, 
and also assist him in his domestic labors. Thou coverest 
the earth with a garniture of freshest loveliness, that the 
senses of man may be gratified, and his thoughts directed to 
Him who hath created all things, and pronounced them good. 
And, finally, thou art the hope of the year, and thine admo- 
nitions, which are of the future, have a tendency to emanci- 
pate the thoughts of man from this world, and the troubles 
which may surround him here, and fix them upon that 
clime where an everlasting spring abides." " The voice 
in my dreaming ear melted away," and I heard the roaring 
of the streams, as they fretted their way down the rocky 
steeps. 

The streams ! such " trumpets" as they have blown to- 
day would, I am afraid, have caused Mr. Wordsworth to 
exclaim : 

" The cataracts — make a devilish noise up yonder J^^ 
The fact is, as " all the earth is gay," and all the springs 
among the mountains are " giving themselves up to jollity," 
the streams are full to overflowing, and rush along with a 
" vindictive looseness," because of the burden they have to 
bear. The falls and cascades, which make such exquisite 
pictures in the summer months, are now fearful to behold, 
for, in their anger, every now and then they toss some giant 
tree into an abyss of foam, which makes one tremble with 
fear. But after the streams have left the mountains, and are 



AN EMBLEM. 39 

running through the bottom lands, they still appear to be dis- 
pleased with something, and at every turn they take, delve 
into the " bowels of the harmless earth," making it danger- 
ous for the angler to approach too near, but rendering the 
haunt of the trout more spacious and commodious than before. 
The streams are about the only things I cannot praise to-day, 
and I hope it will not rain for a month to come, if this is 
the way they intend to act whenever we have a number of 
delightful showers. 

The woods ! A goodly portion of the day have I spent 
in one of their most secret recesses. I went with Shakspeare 
under my arm ; but I could not read any more than fly, so 
I stretched myself at full length on a huge log, and kept a 
sharp look-out for anything that might send me a waking 
dream. The brotherhood of trees clustered around me, laden 
with leaves just bursting into full maturity, and possessing 
that delicate and peculiar green which lasts but a single day, 
and never returns. A fitful breeze swept through them, so 
that ever and anon I fancied a gushing fountain to be near, 
or that a company of ladies fair was come to visit me, and 
that 1 heard the rustle of their silken kirtles. And now my 
eyes rested on a tree that was entirely leafless, and almost 
without a limb. Instead of grass at its foot, was a heap of 
dry leaves, and not a bush or a vine grew anywhere near it; 
but around its neighbors they grew in great abundance. It 
seemed branded with a curse ; alone, forsaken of its own, 
and despised by all. Can this, thought I, be an emblem of 
any human being ? Strange that it should be, but it is ne- 
vertheless too true. Only one week ago, I saw a poor mise- 
rable maniac, bound hand and foot, driven from " home and 
all its treasures," and carried to a dark, damp prison-house 
in a neighboring town. I can be reconciled to the mystery 
of a poisonous reptile's existence ; but it is very hard to un- 
derstand for what good purpose a maniac is created. Ano- 



40 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

ther object I noticed, was a little tree about five feet high, 
completely covered with blossoms of a gaudy hue. At first, 
I tried to gather something poetical out of this thing, but 
with all my endeavors I could not. It caused me a real 
hearty laugh, as the idea expanded, for it reminded me of a 
certain maiden lady of my acquaintance, who is olcU stunted, 
very fond of tall men, and always strutting among her fel- 
lows under a weight oi jewelry. But oh! what beautiful 
flowers did I notice in that shady grove, whose whispering 
filled me with delight ! Their names ? I cannot tell them 
to you, fair reader — they ought to have no names, any more 
than a cloud, or a foam-bell on the river. Some were blue, 
some white, some purple, and some scarlet. There were 
little parties of them on every side, and as the wind swayed 
their delicate stems, I could not but fancy they were living 
creatures ; the personified thoughts, perhaps, of happy and 
innocent children. Occasionally, too, I noticed a sort of 
straggler peeping at me from beside a hillock of moss, or 
from under the branches of a fallen tree, as if surprised at 
my temerity in entering its secluded haunt. Birds, also, were 
around me in that green-wood sanctuary, singing their hymns 
of praise to the Father of Mercies for the return of spring. 
The nests of the females being already built, they had nothing 
to do but be happy, anticipating the time when they them- 
selves should be the " dealers-out of some small blessings" 
to their helpless broods. As to their mates, they were about 
as independent, restless, and noisy as might be expected, very 
much as any rational man would be who was the husband 
of a young and beautiful wife. 

But the open fields to-day have superabounded with pic- 
tures to please and instruct the mind. I know not where to 
begin to describe them. Shall it be at the very threshold of 
our farm-house 1 Well, then, only look at those lilac trees in 
the garden, actually top-heavy with purple and white flower- 



RURAL PICTURE. 41 

ing pyramids. The old farmer has just cut a number of large 
branches, and given them to his little daughter to carry to 
her mother, who will distribute them between the mande- 
piece, the table, and the fire-place of the family sitting-room. 
But what ambrosial odor is that which now salutes the senses ! 
It comes not from the variegated corner of the garden, where 
the tulip, the violet, the hyacinth, the bluebell and the lily 
of the valley are vying to outstrip each other in their attire ; 
nor from the clover-covered lawn, besprinkled with butter- 
cups, strawberry blossoms, and honeysuckles, but from the 
orchard, every one of whose trees are completely covered 
with snow-white blossoms. And from their numberless 
petals emanates the murmur of bees as they are busy ex- 
tracting the luscious honey. What an abundance of fruit — 
of apples, cherries, peaches and pears, do these sweet blossoms 
promise ! But next week there may be a h'liXev frost ; and 
this is the lesson which my heart learns. Now that I am in 
the spring-time of life, my hopes, in numbers and beauty, are 
like the blossoms of trees, and I know not but that they may 
even on the morrow be withered by the chilly breath of the 
grave. But let us loiter farther on. The western slope of 
this gentle hill is equally divided, and of two different shades 
of green ; one is planted with rye and the other with wheat. 
The eastern slope of the hill has lately been loosened by the 
plough, and is of a sombre color, but to my eyes not less 
pleasing than the green. And this view is enlivened with 
figures besides — for a farmer and two boys are planting corn, 
the latter opening the beds with their hoes and the former 
dropping in the seed (which he carries in a bag slung at his 
side), and covering it with his foot. And now, fluttering over 
their heads is a roguish bobolink, scolding about something 
in their wake; at a respectful distance, and hopping along 
the ground, are a number of robins, and on the nearest fence 
a meadow-lark and bluebird are "holding on for a bite»'* 



42 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

But there is no end to these rural pictures, so I will just take 
my reader into this neighboring meadow-pasture, thence 
into the poultry-yard at home, and conclude my present rhap- 
sody. 

Here we are, then, in the midst of various domestic ani- 
mals. Yonder a couple of black colts are chasing each 
other in play, while their venerable mother (for they are 
brothers, though not twins) is standing a little way ofl*, 
watching their antics, and twisting about her ears, as she 
remembers the happy days of her own colt-hood. Here are 
some half dozen hearty cows, lying down and grazing, each 
one with a " pledge of affection" sporting about her. There 
are six or eight oxen, eating away as fast as they can, while 
one who seems to be a sentinel, occasionally rolls up his eye 
to see if the farmer is coming to renew his song of " haw ! 
gee ! gee ! haw !" Under the shadows of that old oak is a 
flock of sheep, with their lambs bounding beside them, as to 
the " tabor's sound ;" but to me there comes no " thought of 
grief" at the sight, wherein I must be suffered to disagree 
with Wordsworth, to whom I have already alluded once or 
twice, and whose celebrated and most wonderful ode has 
been echoing in my heart all the day long. Some of the 
lines in it are appropriate to the day, the charms of which I 
am attempting to make you feel, reader, and you will oblige 
me by conning and inwardly digesting the following frag- 
ments of a whole and yet really complete poem : — 

" The sunshine is a glorious birth." 



" The winds come to me from the fields of sleep." 



And the babe leaps up on his mother's arm. 



"Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own." 



THE POULTRY YARD. 43 

" Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight, 
And custom lie upon thee with a weight 
Heavy as fate, and deep almost as life." 



" joy, that in our embers 
Is something that doth live. 
That nature yet remembers 
What was so fugitive." 



" To me the meanest flower that blooms, can give 
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." 

Strange that a man, after dwelling upon such poetry, should 
be willing to go into a poultry yard. But why not ? I 
would rather do this willingly than be compelled, as I have 
been, and may be again, to hear a man say, after reading to 
him Wordsworth's great Ode, " Why ! of what use is such 
stuff? -what does '\i2:)rove? will it furnish a man with bread 
and butter ? will it make the pot boil?^^ The people of the 
poultry-yard have been in such glee to-day, and contributed 
so much to the gladness of the day, that I must pay them a 
passing tribute. In the first place, our old gobbler, with his 
retinue of turkey wives, has been at the point of bursting 
with pride ever since sunrise. If the Grand Sultan of Tur- 
key, (who must be the father of all turkeys,) cuts the same 
kind of capers in the presence of his hundred ladies, Turkey 
must be a great country for lean people to " laugh and grow 
fat." Our gobbler is a feathered personification of Jack Fal- 
staff, possessing his prominent trail of cowardice to perfection. 
I flourished a red handkerchief in his face this morning, and, 
by the way he strutted round and gobbled, you would have 
thought he was going to devour you. About ten minutes 
after this, I threw down a handful of corn, which was in- 
tended for his particular palate. While he was busy pick- 
ing it up, a certain cock stepped alongside, and commenced 
picking too. The intruder, having got in the way of the 



44 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

gobbler, was suddenly pushed aside ; whereupon the gentle- 
man with spurs chuckled and " showed fight;" but the gob- 
bler for a moment heeded him not. This the cock could not 
bear, so he pounced upon his enemy, and whipped him with- 
out mercy, until the coward and fool ran away, with his long 
train of affectionate wives following behind. 

The cocks, hens and chickens which have figured in the 
yard to-day, would more than number a hundred ; and such 
cackling, crowing, chuckling, and crying as they have made, 
was anything but a " concord of sweet sounds." But the 
creatures have been happy, and it was therefore a pleasure 
to look at them. A young hen, this morning, made her first 
appearance with a large brood of chickens, yellow as gold, 
and this caused quite a sensation among the feathered hus- 
bands generally. The mother, as she rambled about, seemed 
to say, by her pompous air, to her daughterless friends — 
"Ar'n't they beautiful? don't you wish you had a few?" 
It was also very funny to see with what looks of astonish- 
ment the youthful cocks surveyed these " infant phenome- 
nons." As to our ducks, and geese, and guinea-hens, 
they have minded their business very well — the two former 
paddling about the creek and mud-puddles, and the latter, 
"between meals," roaming at large through the orchard and 
garden, altogether the most beautiful and rational of the fea- 
thered tribes. 

A mountaineer, who is to take this queer record to the 
post-office, is waiting for me below, and I must close, — hop- 
ing that the country pictures I have endeavored to sketch, 
may have a tendency to make you feel a portion of that joy 
which has characterized this delightful Spring Day. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Corn Planting Bee. 

PlauterJdll Clove, May. 

The people who inhabit that section of country lying be- 
tween the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River, are 
undoubtedly the legitimate descendants of the far-famed Rip 
Van Winkle. Dutch blood floweth in their veins, and their 
names, appearance, manners, are all Dutch, and Dutch only. 
The majority of them are engaged in tilling the soil, and as 
they seem to be satisfied with a bare competency, the peace- 
fulness of their lives is only equalled by their ignorance of 
books and the world at large. The height of their ambition 
is to enjoy a frolic, and what civilized people understand by 
that term, they designate a Bee. Not only have they their 
wedding and funeral bees, but they commemorate their 
agricultural labors with a bee, and of these the corn planting 
bee, which I am about to describe, is a specimen. 

A certain old Dutchman of my acquaintance had so long 
neglected the field where he intended to plant his corn, that 
he found it necessary to retrieve his reputation by getting up 
a bee. He therefore immediately issued his invitations, and 
at two o'clock on the appointed day, about seventy of his 
neighbors, including men and women, made their appear- 
ance at his dwelling, each one of them furnished with a hoe 



46 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

and a small bag to carry the seed. After supplying his guests 
with all they wanted in the way of spiritual drink, my friend 
gave the signal, and shouldering a large hoe, started off for 
the field of action, closely followed by his neighbors, who 
fell to work quite lustily. The field was large, but as the 
laborers were numerous, it was entirely planted at least two 
hours before sunset, when the party was disbanded, with the 
express understanding resting upon their minds that they 
should invite their children to the dance, which was to take 
place in the evening at the bee-giver's residence. 

The house of my farmer friend having been originally 
built for a tavern, it happened to contain a large ball-room, 
and on this occasion it was stripped of its beds and bedding, 
and the walls thereof decked from top to bottom with green 
branches and an occasional tallow candle, and conspicuous 
at one end of the hall was a refreshment establishment, well 
supplied with pies, gingerbread, molasses candy and segars, 
and with an abundance of colored alcohols. The number of 
young men and women who came together on this occasion 
was about one hundred, and while they were trimming for 
the approaching dance, the musician, a long-legged, huge and 
bony Dutchman, was tuning a rusty fiddle. The thirty 
minutes occupied by him in this interesting business were 
employed by the male portion of the guests in " wetting their 
whistles." The dresses worn on this occasion were emi- 
nently rustic and unique. Those of the gentlemen, for the 
most part, were made of coarse gray cloth, similar to that 
worn by the residents on Blackwell's Island, while the ladies 
were arrayed in white cotton dresses, trimmed with scarlet 
ribbon. Pumps being out of vogue, cowhide boots were 
worn by the former and calf brogans by the latter. 

All things being now ready, a terribly loud screech came 
from the poor little fiddle, and the clattering of heels com- 
menced, shaking the building to its very foundation. " On with 



47 

the dance, let joy be unconfined," seemed to be the motto of 
all present, and from the start, there seemed to be a strife 
between the male and female dancers as to who should leap 
the highest and make the most noise. Desperate were the 
efforts of the musician, as he toiled away upon his instru- 
ment, keeping discord with his heels; and every unusual 
wail of the fiddle was the forerunner of a shower of sweat, 
which came rolling off the fiddler's face to the floor. And 
then the joyous delirium of the musician was communicated 
to the dancers, and as the dance proceeded, their efforts be- 
came still more desperate ; the women wildly threw back 
their hair, and many of the men took off their coats, and 
rolled up their shirt sleeves, for the purpose of keeping cool. 
In spite of every effort, however, the faces of the dancers 
became quite red with the rare excitement, and the hall was 
filled with a kind of heated fog, in which the first " break- 
down" of the evening concluded. 

Then followed the refreshment scene. The men drank 
whisky and smoked cigars, while the women feasted on 
mince pies, drank small beer, and sucked molasses candy. 
Some of the smaller men or boys, who were too lazy to 
dance, sneaked off into an out-of-the-way room, for the pur- 
pose of pitching pennies, while a few couples, who were 
victims to the tender passion, retired to some cozy nook to 
bask unobserved in each other's smiles. 

But now the screeching fiddle is again heard above the 
murmur of talking and laughing voices, and another rush is 
made for the sanded floor. Another dance is then enjoyed, 
differing from the one already described only in its increased 
extravagance. After sawing away for a long time as if for 
dear life, the musician is politely requested to play a new 
tune. Promptly does he assent to the proposition ; but having 
started on a fresh key, he soon falls into the identical strain 
which had kept him busy for the previous hour; so that the 



48 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

philosophic listener is compelled to conclude either that the 
fiddler cannot play more than one tune, or that he has a par- 
ticular passion for the monotonous and nameless one to 
which he so closely clings. And thus with many indescrib- 
able variations does the ball continue throughout the entire 
night. 

I did not venture to trip the " light fantastic toe" on the 
occasion in question, but my enjoyment as a calm spectator 
was very amusing and decidedly original. Never before had 
I seen a greater amount of labor performed by men and 
women in the same time. I leYt this interesting assembly 
about midnight, fully satisfied with what I had seen and 
heard, but I was afterwards told that I missed more than 
"half the fun." 

When the music was loudest, so it appears, and the frenzy 
of the dance at its climax, a select party of Dutch gendemen 
were suddenly seized with an appetite for some more sub- 
stantial food than any that had yet been given them. They 
held a consultation on the important subject, and finally agreed 
to ransack the garret and cellar of their host for the purpose 
of satisfying their natural desires. In the former place they 
found a good supply of dried beef, and in the latter, a few 
loaves of bread and a jar of rich cream, upon which they 
regaled themselves without favor, but with some fear. The 
giver of the bee subsequently discovered what had been done, 
and though somewhat more than " three sheets in the wind," 
slyly sent for a pair of constables, who soon made their 
appearance, and arrested the thieving guests, who were held 
to bail in the sum of fifty dollars each. I was also informed 
that the dance was kept up until six o'clock in the morning, 
and that the appearance of my friend's establishment and 
the condition of his guests at seven o'clock were ridiculous in 
the extreme. A small proportion of the bee-party only had 
succeeded in starting for home, so that the number who from 



CORN PLANTING BEE. 49 

excess of drinking and undue fatigue had retired to repose, 
was not far from three score and ten. The sleeping accom- 
modations of the host were limited, and the consequence 
was that his guests had to shift for themselves as they best 
could. The floors of every room in the house, including 
the pantries, were literally covered with men and women, — 
some of them moaning with a severe headache, some breathing 
audibly in a deep sleep, and others snoring in the loudest 
and most approved style. By twelve o'clock the interesting 
company had stolen off to their several homes, and the corn 
planting bee, among the Catskills, was at an end. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Lake Horicon — Sketches of its scenery — Information for anglers — Sab- 
bath Day Point — War memories — The insect city — Death of a deer — 
Rogers' Slide — Diamond Island — The snake charmer — Snake stories 
— Night on Horicon. 

Lyman's Tavern, June. 
If circumstances alone could make one poetical, then 
might you expect from me, on this occasion, a paper of rare 
excellence and beauty. My sketch-book is my desk ; my 
canopy from the sunshine, an elm tree ; the carpet under my 
feet, a rich green sprinkled with flowers ; the music in my 
ear of singing birds ; and the prospect before me, north, east, 
and south, the tranquil bosom of Lake George, with its 
islands and surrounding mountains ; whose waters, directly at 
my side, are alive with many kinds of fish, sporting together 
on a bed of sand. Yes, the far-famed Lake George is my 
subject ; but in what I write, I shall not use that title, — for 
I do not like the idea of christening what belongs to us with 
the name of an English monarch, however much his memory 
deserves to be respected. Shall it be Lake St. Sacrament, 
then ? No ! for that was given to it by the Pope, and the 
French nation. Horicon — a musical and appropriate word, 
meaning pure water, and given to it by the poor Indian — is 
the name which rightfully belongs to the lake which is now 
my theme. 



LAKE HORICON. 51 

Lake Horicon is one of the few objects in Nature which 
(lid not disappoint me after reading the descriptions of tra- 
vellers. I verily believe that, in point of mere beauty, it has 
not its superior in the world. Its length is thirty-four miles, 
and its width from two to four. Its islands number about 
three hundred, and vary from ten feet to a mile in length ; — 
a great many of them are located in the centre of the lake, 
at a place called the Narrows. It is completely surrounded 
with mountains ; the most prominent of which are. Black 
Mountain, on the east of the Narrows, Tongue Mountain, di- 
rectly opposite, and French Mountain, at the southern extre- 
mity. The first is the most lofty, and remarkable for its wild- 
ness, and the superb prospect therefrom ; the second is also 
wild and uninhabited, but distinguished for its dens of rattle- 
snakes ; and the latter is somewhat cultivated, but memorable 
for having been the camping-ground of the French during 
the Revolutionary War. The whole eastern border is yet a 
comparative wilderness ; but along the western shore are 
some respectable farms, and a good coach road from Cald- 
well to Ticonderoga, which affords many admirable views 
of the sky-blue lake. There are three public houses here 
which I can recommend : the Lake House, for those who 
are fond of company — Lyman's Tavern for the hunter of 
scenery and lover of quiet — and Garfield's House for the 
fisherman. A nice little steamboat, commanded by a gentle- 
man, passes through every morning and evening, (excepting 
Sundays,) and though a convenient affair to the traveller, it 
is an eyesore to the admirer of the wilderness. Identified 
with this boat is an eccentric man named Old Dick, who 
amuses the tourist, and collects an occasional shilling by ex- 
hibiting a number of rattlesnakes. When, in addition to all 
these things, it is remembered that Horicon is the centre of 
a region made classic by the exploits of civilized and savage 
warfare, it can safely be pronounced one of the most inte- 



52 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

resting portions of our country for the summer tourist to 
visit. I have looked upon it from many a peak whence might 
be seen almost every rood of its shore. I have sailed into 
every one of its bays, and, like the pearl-diver, have re- 
peatedly descended into its cold blue chambers, so that I 
have learned to love it as a faithful and well-tried friend. 
Since the day of my arrival here, I have kept a journal of 
my adventures, and, as a memorial of Horicon, I will extract 
therefrom, and embody in this chapter the following pas- 



Six pencil sketches have I executed upon the lake to-day. 
One of them was a view of the distant mountains, whose 
various outlines were concentrated at one point, and whose 
color was of that delicate, dreamy blue, created by a sun- 
light atmosphere, with the sun direcdy in front. In the mid- 
dle distance was a flock of islands, with a sail-boat in their 
midst, and in the foreground a cluster of rocks, surmounted 
by a single cedar, which appeared like the sentinel of a for- 
tress. Another was of the ruins of Fort George, with a 
background of dark-green mountains, made quite desolate by 
a flock of sheep sleeping in one of its shady moats. An- 
other was of a rowing-race between two rival fishermen, at 
the time they were only a dozen rods from the goal, and 
when every nerve of their aged frames was strained to the 
utmost. Another was of a neat log-cabin, on a quiet lawn 
near the water, at whose threshold a couple of ragged, but 
beautiful children were playing with a large dog, while from 
the chimney of the house ascended the blue smoke with a 
thousand fantastic evolutions. Another was of a huge pine 
tree, which towered conspicuously above its kindred on the 
mountain side, and seemed to me an appropriate symbol of 
Webster in the midst of a vast concourse of his fellow men. 
And the last was of a thunder-storm, driven away from the 



TROUT FISHING. 53 

mountain top by the mild radiance of a rainbow, which 
partly encircled Horicon in a loving embrace. 



I have been fishing to-day, and, while enduring some poor 
sport, indited in my mind the following information, for the 
benefit of my piscatorial friends. The days of trout-fishing 
in Lake Horicon are nearly at an end. A few years ago, it 
abounded in salmon-trout, which were frequently caught 
weighing twenty pounds. But their average weight, at the 
present time, is not more than one pound and a half, and 
they are scarce even at that. In taking them, you first have 
to obtain a sufficient quantity of sapling bark to reach the 
bottom in sixty feet of water, to one end of which must be 
fastened a stone, and to the other a stick of wood, which 
designates your fishing-ground, and is called a buoy. A va- 
riety of more common fish are then caught, such as suckers, 
perch, and eels, which are cut up and deposited, some half a 
peck at a time, in the vicinity of the buoy. In a few days 
the trout will begin to assemble, and so long as you keep 
them well fed, a brace of them may be captured at any time 
during the summer. But the fact is, this is only another 
way for " paying too dear for the whistle." The best an- 
gling, after all, is for the common brook trout, which is a 
bolder biting fish, and better for the table than the salmon 
trout. The cause of the great decrease in the large trout of 
this lake, is this: — in the autumn, when they have sought the 
shores for the purpose of spawning, the neighboring barba- 
rians have been accustomed to spear them by torch-light ; 
and if the heartless business does not soon cease, the result 
will be, that in a few years they will be extinct. There are 
two other kinds of trout in the lake, however, which yet 
afford good sport, — the silver trout, caught in the summer, 
and the fall trout. But the black bass, upon the whole, is 
now mostly valued by the fisherman. They are in their 



54 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

prime in the summer months. They vary from one to five 
pounds in weight ; are taken by trolling, and with a drop 
line, and afford fine sport. Their haunts are along the rocky 
shores, aild it is often the case, that on a still day you may see 
them from your boat, swimming about in herds where the 
water is twenty feet deep. They have a queer fashion, when 
hooked, of leaping out of the water, for the purpose of getting 
clear, and it is seldom that a novice in the gentle art can 
keep them from succeeding. But, alas ! their numbers also 
are fast diminishing, by the same means and the same hands 
that have killed the trout. My advice to those who come 
here exclusively for the purpose of fishing is, to continue their 
journey to the sources of the Hudson, Scaroon Lake, Long 
Lake, and Lake Pleasant; in whose several waters there seems 
to be no end to every variety of trout, and where may be found 
much wild and beautiful scenery. The angler of the present 
day will be disappointed in Lake Horicon. 



When issuing from the Narrows on your way down the 
Horicon, the most attractive object, next to the mountains, is 
a strip of low, sandy land, extending into the lake, called 
Sabbath Day Point. It was so christened by Abercrombie, 
who encamped and spent the sabbath there, when on his 
way to Ticonderoga, where he was so sadly defeated. I 
look upon it as one of the most enchanting places in the 
world ; but the pageant with which it is associated was not 
only enchanting and beautiful, but magnificent. Only look 
upon the picture. It is the sunset hour, and before us, far 
up in the upper air, and companion of the evening star, and a 
host of glowing clouds, rises the majestic form of Black Moun- 
tain, enveloped in a mantle of rosy atmosphere. The bosom 
of the lake is without a ripple, and every cliff, ravine and 
island has its counterpart in the pure waters. A blast of mar- 
tial music from drums, fifes, bagpipes and bugle horns now 



FORTS GEORGE AND WILLIAM HENRY. 55 

falls upon the ear, and the immense procession comes in 
sight ; one thousand and thirty-five batteaux, containing an 
army of seventeen thousand souls, headed by the brave Aber- 
crombie and the red cross of England, — the scarlet uniforms 
and glistening bayonets forming a line of light against the 
darker background of the mountain. And behind a log in 
the foreground is a crouching Indian runner, who, with the 
speed of a hawk, will carry the tidings to the French nation, 
that an army is coming — "numerous as the leaves upon the 
trees." Far from the strange scene fly the affrighted deni- 
zens of mountain and wave, — while thousands of human 
hearts are beating happily at the prospect of victory, whose 
bodies, in a few hours, will be food for the raven on the plains 
of Ticonderoga. 



A goodly portion of this day have I been musing upon the 
olden times, while rambling about Fort George, and Fort 
William Henry. Long and with peculiar interest did I linger 
about the spot near the latter, where were cruelly massacred 
the followers of Monroe, at which time Montcalm linked his 
name to the tide of a heartless Frenchman, and the name of 
Webb became identified with all that is justly despised by 
the human heart. I profess myself to be an enemy to wrong 
and outrage of every kind, and yet a lover and defender of 
the Indian race ; but when I picked up one after another the 
flinty heads of arrows, which were mementos of an awful 
butchery, my spirit revolted against the red man, and for a 
moment I felt a desire to condemn him. Yes, I will condemn 
that particular band of murderers, but I cannot but defend 
the race. Cruel and treacherous they were, I will allow, 
but do we not forget the treatment they ever met with from 
the while man? The most righteous of battles have ever 
been fought for the sake of sires and wives and children, 
and for what else did the poor Indian fight, when driven from 



56 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY, 

the home of his youth into an unknown wilderness, to become 
thereafter a by-word and a reproach among the nations ? 
" Indians," said we, " we would have your lands, and if you 
will not be satisfied with the gewgaws we proffer, our powder 
and balls will teach you that power is but another name for 
right." And this is the principle that has guided the white 
man ever since in his warfare against the aborigines of our 
country. I cannot believe that we shall ever be a happy 
and prosperous people until the King of kings shall have 
forgiven us for having, with a yoke of tyranny, almost anni- 
hilated an hundred nations. 



A portion of this afternoon I whiled away on a little island, 
which attracted my attention by its charming variety of 
foliage. It is not more than one hundred feet across at the 
widest part, and is encircled by a yellow sand bank, and 
shielded by a regiment of variegated rocks. But what could 
I find there to interest me, it may be inquired? My answer 
is this. This island, hidden in one of the bays of Horicon, 
is an insect city, and more populous than was Rome in the 
days of her glory. There the honeybee has his oaken tower, 
the wasp and humble-bee their grassy nests, the spider his 
den, the butterfly his hammock, the grasshopper his domain, 
the beetle and cricket and hornet their decayed stump, and 
the toiling ant her palace of sand. There they were born, there 
they flourish and multiply, and there they die, symbolizing the 
career and destiny of man. I was a " distinguished stranger" 
in that city, and I must confess that it gratified my ambition 
to be welcomed with such manifestations of regard as the 
inhabitants thought proper to bestow. My approach was 
heralded by the song of a kingly bee ; and when I had thrown 
myself upon a mossy bank, multitudes of people gathered 
round, and, with their eyes intendy fixed upon me, stood 
still, and let " expressive silence muse my praise." To the 



THE DEATH. 57 

" natives," I was emphatically a source of astonishment, and 
as I wished to gather instruction from the incident, I wondered 
in my heart whether I would be a happier man if my presence 
in a human city should create a kindred excitement. At 
any rate it would be a " great excitement on a small capital." 



While quietly eating my dinner this noon in the shady 
recess of an island near Black Mountain, I was startled by 
the yell of a pack of hounds coming down one of its ravines. 
I knew that the chase was after a deer, so I waited in breath- 
less anxiety for his appearance, and five minutes had hardly 
elapsed before I discovered a noble buck at bay on the ex- 
treme summit of a bluif which extended into the lake. There 
were five dogs yelping about him, but the " antlered monarch" 
fought them like a hero. His hoof was the most dangerous 
weapon he could wield, and it seemed to me that the earth 
actually trembled every time that he struck at his enemies. 
Presently, to my great joy, one of the hounds was killed, and 
another so disabled, that he retired from the contest. But 
the hunters made their appearance, and I knew that the 
scene would soon come to a tragic close, and when the buck 
beheld them, I could not but believe that over his face a 
" tablet of agonizing thoughts was traced," for he fell upon 
his knees, then made a sudden wheel, and with a frightful 
bound, as a ball passed through his heart, cleared the rock 
and fell into the lake below. The waters closed over him, 
and methought that the waves of Horicon and the leaves of 
the forest murmured a requiem above the grave of the wil- 
derness king. I turned away and partly resolved that I 
would never again have a dog for my friend, or respect the 
character of a hunter, but then I looked into the crystal waters 
of the lake, and thought of the beam in my own eye, and 
stood convicted of a kindred cruelty. 



58 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

One of the most singular precipices overlooking Horicon 
is about five miles from the outlet, and known as Rogers' 
Slide. It is some four hundred feet high, and at one point 
not a fissure or sprig can be discovered to mar the polished 
surface of the rock till it reaches the water. Once on a time 
in the winter, the said Rogers was pursued by a band of 
Indians to this spot, when, after throwing down his knapsack 
he carefully retraced the steps of his snow-shoes for a short 
distance, and descending the hill by a circuitous route, con- 
tinued his* course across the frozen lake. The Indians, on 
coming to the jumping-ofF place, discovered their enemy on 
the icy plain ; but when they saw the neglected knapsack 
below, and no signs of returning footsteps where they stood, 
they thought the devil was in the man, and gave up the 
pursuit. 



The most famous, and one of the most beautiful islands in 
this lake, is Diamond Island, so called from the fact that it 
abounds in crystalized quartz. It is half a mile in length, 
but the last place which would be thought of as the scene of 
a battle. It is memorable for the attack made by the Ameri- 
cans on the British, who had a garrison there, during the 
Revolution. The American detachment was commanded by 
Col. Brown, and being elated with his recent triumphs on 
Lake Champlain, he resolved to attack Diamond Island. The 
battle was bloody, and the British fought like brave men 
" long and well ;" the Americans were defeated, and this 
misfortune was followed by the sufferings of a most painful 
retreat over the almost impassable mountains between the 
Lake and what is now Whitehall. While wandering about 
the island it was a difficult matter for me to realize that it 
had ever resounded with the roar of cannon, the dismal wail 
of v/ar, and the shout of victory. That spot is now covered 
with woods, whose shadowy groves are the abode of a thou- 



FRENCH MOUNTAIN. 59 

sand birds, forever singing a song of peace or love, as if to 
condemn tlie ambition and cruelty of man. 



In the vicinity of French Mountain is an island celebrated 
as the burial-place of a rattlesnake hunter, named Belden. 
From all that I can learn, he must have been a strange mortal 
indeed. His birth-place and early history were alike un- 
known. When he first made his appearance at this lake, 
his only companions were a brotherhood of rattlesnakes, by 
exhibiting which he professed to have obtained his living; and 
it is said that, during the remainder of his life, he acquired 
a handsome sum of money by selling the oil and gall of his 
favorite reptile. And I have recently been told that the pre- 
sent market price of a fat snake, when dead, is not less than 
half a dollar. Another mode peculiar to old Belden for 
making money, was to suffer himself to be bitten, at some 
tavern, after which he would return to his cabin to apply the 
remedy, when he would come forth again just as good as new. 
But he was not always to be a solemn trifler. For a Aveek 
had the old man been missing, and on a pleasant August 
morning, his body was found on the island alluded to, sadly 
mutilated and bloated, and it was certain that he had died 
actually surrounded with rattlesnakes. His death bed be- 
came his grave, and rattlesnakes were his only watchers ; — 
thus endeth the story of his life. 

But this reminds me of two little adventures. The other 
day as I was seated near the edge of a sand bar, near the 
mouth of a brook, sketching a group of trees and the sunset 
clouds beyond, I was startled by an immense black snake, 
that landed at my side, and pursued its way directly under 
my legs, upon which my drawing-book was resting. Owing 
to my perfect silence, the creature had probably looked upon 
me as a mere stump. But what was my surprise a few mo- 
ments after, when re-seated in the same place, to find another 



60 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

snake, and that a large spotted adder, passing along the same 
track the former had pursued. The first fright had almost 
disabled me from using the pencil, but when the second came, 
I gave a lusty yell, and forgetful of the fine arts, started for 
home on the keen run. 

At another time when returning from a fishing excursion, 
in a boat accompanied by a couple of " green-horns," we 
discovered on the water, near Tongue Mountain, an immense 
rattlesnake with his head turned towards us. As the oars- 
man in the bow of the boat struck at him with his oar, the 
snake coiled round it, and the fool was in the very act of drop- 
ping the devilish thing in my lap. I had heard the creature 
rattle, and not knowing what I did, as he hung suspended 
over me, overboard I went, and did not look behind until I 
had reached the land. The consequence was, that for one 
while I was perfectly disgusted even with Lake Horicon, 
and resolved to leave it without delay. The snake was killed 
without doing any harm, however, but such a blowing up as 
I gave the green-horn actually made his hair stand straight 
with fear. 

One more snake story, and I will conclude : On the north 
side of Black Mountain is a cluster of some half dozen 
houses, in a vale, which spot is called the Bosom, but from 
what cause I do not know. The presiding geniuses of the 
place are a band of girls, weighing two hundred pounds 
apiece, w^ho farm it with their fathers for a living, but whose 
principal amusement is rattlesnake hunting. Their favorite 
play-ground is the notorious cliff on Tongue Mountain, where 
they go with naked feet (rowing their own boats across the 
lake), and pull out by their tails from the rocks the pretty 
playthings, and, snapping them to death, they lay them away 
in a basket as trophies of their skill. I was told that in one 
day last year they killed the incredible number of eleven 
hundred. What delicious wives would these Horicon ladies 



MEDITATIONS. 61 

make. Since the Florida Indians have been driven from their 
country by blood-hounds, would it not be a good idea for 
Congress to secure the services of these amazons for the 
purpose of exterminating the rattlesnakes upon our moun- 
tains. This latter movement would be the most ridiculous, 
but the inhumanity of the former is without a parallel. 



A clear and tranquil summer night, and I am alone on the 
pebbly beach of this paragon of lakes. The countless hosts of 
heaven are beaming upon me with a silent joy, and more 
impressive and holy than a poet's dream are the surrounding 
mountains, as they stand reflected in the unruffled waters. 
Listen ! what sound is that so like the wail of a spirit ? Only 
a loon, the lonely night- watcher of Horicon, whose melan- 
choly moan, as it breaks the profound stillness, carries my 
fancy back to the olden Indian times, ere the white man 
had crossed the ocean. All these mountains and this beau- 
tiful lake were then the heritage of a brave and noble-hearted 
people, who made war only upon the denizens of the forest, 
whose lives were peaceful as a dream, and whose manly 
forms, decorated with the plumes of the eagle, the feathers 
of the scarlet bird, and the robe of the bounding stag, 
tended but to make the scenery of the wilderness beautiful as 
an earthly Eden. Here was the quiet wigwam village, and 
there the secluded abode of the thoughtful chief. Here, 
unmolested, the Indian child played with the spotted fawn, 
and the "Indian lover wooed his dusky mate;" here the 
Indian hunter, in the " sunset of his life," watched with holy 
awe the sunset in the west, and here the ancient Indian 
prophetess sung her uncouth but religious chant. Gone — all, 
all gone — and the desolate creature of the waves, now pealing 
forth another wail, seems the only memorial that they have 
left behind. There — my recent aspirations are all quelled, 
I can walk no further to-night; — there is a sadness in my 



62 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

soul, and I must seek my home. It is such a blessed night, 
it seems almost sinful that a blight should rest on the spirit 
of man ; yet on mine a gloom will sometimes fall, nor can I 
tell whence the cloud that makes me wretched. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Scaroon country — Scaroon Lake P!ke fishing by torchlight — 
Trout fishing — Lyndsay's Tavern — Paradox Lake. 

Lyndsay's Tavern, June. 

Emptying into the Hudson River, about fifteen miles north 
of Glen's Falls, is quite a large stream, sometimes called the 
East Branch of the Hudson, but generally known as Scaroon 
River.* Its extreme length is not far from fifty miles. It 
is a clear, cold, and rapid stream, winds through a moun- 
tainous country, and has rather a deep channel. The valley 
through which it runs is somewhat cultivated, but the moun- 
tains which frown upon it on either side, are covered with 
dense forests. The valley of the Scaroon abounds in beau- 
tiful lakes and brooks ; and as I have explored them pretty 
thoroughly during the past week, I will now record the result 
of my observations. 

The most prominent pictorial feature of this region is 
Scaroon Lake, through which the river of that name forms a 
channel. It is ten miles in length and averages about one in 
width. Excepting a little hamlet at its head, and two or 
three farms at the southern extremity, it is yet surrounded 

* The word Schroon is bad English for the Indian word Scaroon, the 
meaning of which is — " child of the mountains." The river was originally 
named by an Algonquin chief after a favorite daughter. 



64 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

with a wilderness of mountains. The waters thereof are 
deep and clear, and well supplied with fish, of which the 
salmon trout and pike are the most valuable. The trout are 
more abundant here than in Lake George, but owing to the 
prevailing custom of spearing them in the autumn, they are 
rapidly becoming extinct. I made a desperate effort to 
capture one as a specimen, but without success, though I 
was told that they varied in weight from ten to fifteen pounds. 
My efforts, however, in taking pike were more encouraging. 
But, before giving my experience, I must mention an inte- 
resting fact in natural history. Previous to the year 1840, 
Scaroon Lake was not known to contain a single pike, but 
during that year, some half dozen males and females were 
brought from Lake Champlain and deposited therein, since 
which time they have multiplied so rapidly as to be quite 
abundant, not only in Scaroon Lake, but in all the neighbor- 
ing waters, and as they are frequently taken weighing some 
twenty pounds, the fact seems to be established that this fish 
grows quite rapidly, and is not of slow growth, as many 
naturalists have supposed. 

But to my pike story. A number of lumbermen were 
going out for the purpose of taking pike by torch-light, and I 
was fortunate enough to secure a seat in one of the three flat 
boats which contained the fishermen. It was a superb night, 
and the lake was without a ripple. Our torches were made 
of " fat pine," as it is here called, and my polite friends taking 
it for granted that I was a novice in the spearing business, 
they cunningly awarded to me the dullest spear in their 
possession, and gave me the poorest position in the boat. I 
said nothing to all this, but inwardly resolved that I would 
give them a salutary lesson, if possible. I fished from nine 
until twelve o'clock, and then left my friends to continue the 
sport. The entire number of pike taken, as I found out in the 
morning, was thirteen, and as fortune would have it, four of 



A MOONLIGHT SCENE. 65 

this number were captured by myself, in spite of my poor 
spear. I did not take the largest fish, which weighed eighteen 
pounds, but the greatest number, with which success I was 
fully satisfied. — The effect of my good luck was unexpected 
to my companions, but gratifying to me, for there was after- 
wards a strife between them as to who should show me the 
most attention in the way of piloting me about the country. 
This little adventure taught me the importance of understand- 
ing even the vagabond art of spearing. 

The event of that night, however, which afforded me the 
purest enjoyment, was the witnessing of a moonlight scene, 
immediately after leaving the lake shore for the inn, where 
I was tarrying. Before me, in wild and solemn beauty, lay 
the southern portion of the Scaroon, on whose bosom were 
gliding the spearmen, holding high above their heads their 
huge torches, which threw a spectral glare, not only upon 
the water, but upon the swarthy forms watching for tlieir 
prey. Just at this moment, an immense cloud of fog broke 
away, and directly above the summit of the opposite moun- 
tain, the clear, full moon made its appearance, and a thou- 
sand fantastic figures, born of the fog, were pictured in the 
sky, and appeared extremely brilliant under the effulgence 
of the ruling planet; while the zenith of sky was of a deep 
blue, cloudless, but completely spangled with stars. And 
what gready added to the magic of the scene, was the dis- 
mal scream of a loon, which came to my ear from a remote 
portion of the lake, yet covered with a heavy fog. 

Rising from the western margin of Scaroon Lake, is quite 
a lofty mountain, which was once painted by Thomas Cole, 
and by him named Scaroon Mountain. There is nothing 
particularly imposing about it, but it commands an uncom- 
monly fine prospect of the surrounding country. When I 
first came in sight of this mountain, it struck me as an old 
acquaintance, and I reined in my horse for the purpose of 
5 



66 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

investigating its features. Before I resumed my course, I 
concluded that I was standing on the very spot whence 
the artist had taken his original sketch of the scene, by 
which circumstance I was convinced of the fidelity of his 
pencil. 

The largest island in Scaroon Lake lies near the northern 
extremity, and studs the water like an emerald on a field of 
blue. It was purchased, some years ago, by a gentleman of 
New York, named Keland, who has built a summer residence 
upon it, for the accommodation of himself and friends. 

Emptying into the Scaroon River, just below the lake, is 
a superb mountain stream, known as Trout Brook. It is 
thirty feet wide, twelve miles long, and comes rushing down 
the mountains, forming a thousand waterfalls and pools, and 
filling its narrow valley with an everlasting roar of music. 
Not only is it distinguished for the quality and number of its 
trout, but it possesses one attraction which will pay the 
tourist for the weary tramp he must undergo to explore its 
remote recesses. I allude to what the people about here call 
" the Stone Bridge." At this point, the wild and dashing 
stream has formed a channel directly through the solid moun- 
tains, so that, in fishing down, the angler suddenly finds him- 
self standing upon a pile of dry stones. The extent of this 
natural bridge is not more than twenty or, perhaps, thirty 
feet, but the wonder is, that the unseen channel is sufficiently 
large to admit the passage of the largest logs which the lum- 
bermen float down the stream. I mjght also add, that at the 
foot of this bridge is one of the finest pools imaginable. It is, 
perhaps, one hundred feet long, and so very deep that the clear 
water appears quite black. This is the finest spot in the whole 
brook for trout, and my luck there may be described as follows : 
I had basketed no less than nine half-pounders, when my fly 
was suddenly seized, and my snell snapped in twain by the 
fierceness of his leaps. The consequence of that defeat was, that 



TROUT FISHING. 67 

I resolved to capture the trout, if I had to remain there all night. 
I then ransacked the mountain side for a living bait, and, 
with the aid of my companion, succeeded in capturing a 
small mouse, and just as the twilight was coming on, I tied 
the little fellow to my hook, and threw him on the water. 
He swam across in fine style, but when he reached the cen- 
tre of the pool, a large trout leaped completely out of his 
element, and in descending, seized the mouse, and the result 
was, that I broke my rod, but caught the trout, and though 
the mouse was seriously injured, I had the pleasure of again 
giving him his liberty. 

The largest trout that I killed weighed nearly a pound, and 
though he was the cause of my receiving a ducking, he af- 
forded me some sport, and gave me a new idea. When I 
first hooked him, I stood on the very margin of the stream, 
knee deep in a bog, and just as I was about to basket him, 
he gave a sudden leap, cleared himself, and fell into the wa- 
ter. Quick as thought I made an effort to rescue him, but 
in doing so, lost my balance, and was playing the part of a 
turtle in a tub of water. I then became poetical, and thought 
it " would never do to give it up so," and after waiting some 
fifteen minutes, I returned and tried for the lost trout again. 
I threw my fly some twenty feet above the place where I 
had tumbled in, and recaptured the identical fish which I 
had lost. I recognized him by his having a torn and bleed- 
ing mouth. This circumstance convinced me that trout, like 
many of the sons of men, have short memories, and also 
that the individual in question was a perfect Richelieu or 
General Taylor in his way, for he seemed to know no such 
word as fail. As to the trout that I did not capture, I verily 
believe that he must have weighed two pounds ; but as he 
was, probably, a superstitious gentleman, he thought it the 
better part of valor, somewhat like Santa Anna, to treat the 
steel of his enemy with contempt. 



68 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

The brook of which I have been speaking, is only twenty- 
five miles from Lake Horicon, and unquestionably one of 
the best streams for the angler in the Scaroon valley. The 
Trout Brook Pavilion, at the mouth of it, kept by one Lock- 
wood, is a comfortable inn ; and his right hand man, named 
Kipp, is a very fine fellow and a genuine angler. 

Speaking of the above friends, reminds me of another, a 
fine man, named Lyndsey, who keepeth a tavern, about ten 
miles north of Scaroon Lake. His dwelling is delightfully 
situated in the centre of a deep valley, and is a nice and 
convenient place to stop at, for those who are fond of fishing, 
and admire romantic scenery. His family, including his wife, 
two daughters and one son, not only know how to make their 
friends comfortable, but they seem to have a passion for 
doing kind deeds. During my stay at this place, I had the 
pleasure of witnessing a most interesting game, which seems 
to be peculiar to this part of the country. It was played 
with the common ball and by one hundred sturdy farmers. 
Previous to the time alluded to, fifty Scaroon players had 
challenged an equal number of players from a neighboring 
village named Moriah. The conditions were that the de- 
feated party should pay for a dinner to be given by my friend 
Lyndsey. They commenced playing at nine o'clock, and the 
game was ended in about three hours, the Scaroon, party hav- 
ing won by about ten counts in five hundred. The majority 
of the players varied from thirty to thirty-five years of age, 
though some of the most expert of them were verging upon 
sixty years. They played with the impetuosity of school 
boys, and there were some admirable feats performed in the 
way of knocking and catching the ball. Some of the men 
could number their acres by thousands, and all of them were 
accustomed to severe labor, and yet they thought it absolutely 
necessary to participate occasionally in this manly and 
fatiguing sport. The dinner passed off" in fine style, and 



LAKE PARADOX. 69 

was spiced by many agricultural anecdotes, and as the sun 
was setting, the parties separated in the best of spirits and 
returned to their several homes. 

For fear that I should forget my duty, I would now intro- 
duce to my reader a sheet of water embosomed among these 
mountains, which glories in the name of Lake Paradox. 
How it came by that queer tide, I was not able to learn, but 
this I know, that it is one of the most beautiful lakes I have 
ever seen. It is five miles long, and surrounded with uncul- 
tivated mountains, excepting at its foot, where opens a beauti- 
ful plain, highly cultivated and dotted with a variety of rude 
but exceedingly comfortable farm houses. The shores of 
Lake Paradox are rocky, the water deep and clear, abound- 
ing in fish, and the lines of the mountains are picturesque to 
an uncommon degree. 

But it is time that I should turn from particulars to a general 
description of the Scaroon Country. — Though this is an 
agricultural region, the two principal articles of export are 
lumber and iron. Of the former the principal varieties 
are pine, hemlock and spruce, and two establishments for 
the manufacture of iron are abundantly supplied with ore 
from the surrounding mountains. Potatoes of the finest quali- 
ty flourish here, also wheat and corn. The people are mostly 
Americans, intelligent, virtuous and industrious, and are as 
comfortable and happy as any in the State. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Adirondac Mountains — Trout fishing in the Boreas River — A night 
in the woods — Moose Lake — Lake Delia — The Newcomb Farm — 
Mount Tahawus — The Indian Pass — Lakes Sanford and Henderson — 
The McLityre iron works. 

John Cheney''s Cabin, June. 

The Adirondac Mountains are situated on the extreme 
head waters of the Hudson, in the counties of Essex and 
Hamilton, and about forty miles west of Lake Champlain. 
They vary from five hundred to five thousand feet in height, 
and, with few exceptions, are covered with dense forests. 
They lord it over the most extensive wilderness region in 
the Empire State, and as I have recently performed a pilgrim- 
age among them, I now purpose to give an account of what 
I saw and heard during my expedition. 

The tourist who visits these mountains, finds it necessary 
to leave the mail road near Lyndsey's Tavern, on the Sca- 
roon. If Fortune smiles upon him, he will be able to hire 
a horse to take him in the interior, or perhaps obtain a seat 
in a lumber wagon ; but if not, he must try the mettle of 
his legs. With regard to my own case, fortune was non- 
committal ; for while she compelled me to go on foot, she 
supplied me with a pair of temporary companions, who were 
going into the interior to see their friends, and have a few 
days' sport in the way of fishing and hunting. One of my 



THE BOREAS RIVER. 71 

friends (both of whom were young men), was a farmer, who 
carried a rifle, and the other a travelling country musician, 
who carried a fiddle. Our first day's tramp took us about 
fifteen miles, through a hilly, thickly wooded, and houseless 
wilderness, to the Boreas River, where we found a ruined 
log shantee, in which we concluded to spend the night. We 
reached this lonely spot at about three o'clock in the after- 
noon ; and having previously been told that the Boreas was 
famous for trout, two of us started after a mess of fish, while 
the fiddler was appointed to the ofiice of wood-chopper to the 
expedition. The Boreas at this point is about one hundred 
feet broad, — winds through a woody valley, and is cold, rapid, 
and clear. The entire river does not difli'er materially, as I 
understand, from the point alluded to, for it waters an un- 
known wilderness. I bribed my farmer friend to ascend the 
river, and having pocketed a variety of flies, I started down 
the stream. I proceeded near half a mile, when I came to 
a still water pool, which seemed to be quite extensive, and 
very deep. At the head of it, midway in the stream, was an 
immense boulder, which I succeeded in surmounting, and 
whence I threw a red hackle for upwards of three hours. I 
never saw trout jump more beautifully, and it was my rare 
luck to basket thirty-four ; twenty-one of which averaged 
three-quarters of a pound, and the remaining thirteen were 
regular two-pounders. Satisfied with my luck, I returned to 
the shantee, where I found my companions ; one of them 
sitting before a blazing fire and fiddling, and the other busily 
employed in cleaning the trout he had taken. 

In due time followed the principal event of the day, which 
consisted in cooking and eatiijg a wilderness supper. We 
had brought a supply of pork and bread, and each one having 
prepared for himself a pair of wooden forks, we proceeded 
to roast our trout and pork before a huge fire, using the drip- 
pings of the latter for seasoning, and a leather cup of water 



72 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

for our beverage. We spent the two following hours in 
smoking and telling stories, and having made a bed of spruce 
boughs, and repaired the rickety partition which divided one 
end of the cabin from the other end, which was all open, we 
retired to repose ! We had no blankets with us, and an agree- 
ment was therefore entered into, that we should take turns 
in replenishing the fire during the night. An awfully dark 
cloud setded upon the wilderness, and by the music of the 
wind among the hemlock trees, we were soon lulled into a 
deep slumber. 

A short time after midnight, while dreaming of a certain 
pair of eyes in the upper part of Broadway, I was awak- 
ened by a footstep on the outside of the cabin. I brushed 
open my eyes, but could see nothing but the faint glimmer 
of an expiring ember on the hearth. I held my breath, and 
listened for the mysterious footstep ; I heard it not, but 
something a litde more exciting, — the scratching of a huge 
paw upon our slender door. In an exceedingly short time, 
I roused my bed-fellows, and told them what I had heard. 
They thought it must be a wolf, and as we were afraid to 
frighten him away, yet anxious to take his hide, it was re- 
solved that I should hold a match, and the farmer should fire 
his rifle in the direction of the mysterious noise ; which ope- 
ration was duly performed. A large pine torch was then 
lighted, the rifle reloaded, and the heroes of the adventure 
marched into the outer hall of the cabin, where we found a 
few drops of blood, and the muddy tracks of what we sup- 
posed to be a wild cat. The rifleman and myself then com- 
missioned the fiddler to make a fire, when we again threw 
ourselves upon the hemlock couch. 

The fiddler attended faithfully to his duty, and in less than 
twenty minutes, he had kindled a tremendous blaze. The 
brilliant and laughing flame had such an exhilarating influ- 
ence upon his nerves, that he seized his instrument and com- 



A MOURNFUL SONG. 73 

menced playing, partly for the purpose of keeping off the 
wild animals, but mostly for his own amusement. Then 
laying aside his fiddle, he began to sing a variety of un- 
couth, as well as plaintive songs, one of which was vague, 
but mournful in sentiment, and more wild in melody, as I 
thought at the time, than anything I had ever before heard. 
I could not find out by whom it was written, or w^hat was 
its exact import, but in the lonely place where we were 
sleeping, and at that hour, it made a very deep impression on 
my mind. 

The burden of the song was as follows, and was in keep- 
ing with the picture which the minstrel, the firelight, and the 
rude cabin presented. 

We parted in silence, we parted at night, 

On the banks of that lonely river. 

Where the shadowy trees their boughs unite, 

We met, and we parted forever ; — 

The night bird sang, and the stars above 

Told many a touching story 

Of friends long passed to the mansions of rest, 

Where the soul wears her mantle of glory. 

We parted in silence ; our cheeks were wet 
By the tears that were past controlling ; — 
We vowed we would never, no never forget, 
And those vows at the time were consoling ; — 
But the lips that echoed my vows 
Are as cold as that lonely river ; 
The sparkling eye, the spirit's shrine, 
Has shrouded its fire forever. 

And now on the midnight sky I look, 
My eyes grow full with weeping, — 
Each star to me is a sealed book, 
Some tale of that loved one keeping. 



74 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

We parted in silence, we parted in tears, 
On the banks of that lonely river ; 
But the odor and bloom of by-gone years 
Shall hang o'er its waters forever. 

But sleep, the "dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous 
health," soon folded the singer and his listener in her em- 
brace, and with the rising sun we entered upon the labors of 
another day. While the fiddler prepared our breakfast, (out 
of the few trout which certain beastly rohhers had not stolen 
during the night,) the rifleman ,went out and killed a large 
hare, and I took a sketch of the cabin where we had lodged. 

After breakfastj^e shouldered our knapsacks, and started 
for the Hudson. ;^e struck this noble river at the embryo 
city of Tahawus, where we found a log house and an un- 
finished saw-mill. Here we also discovered a canoe, which 
we boarded, and navigated the stream to Lake Sanford. 
This portion of the Hudson is not more than one hundred 
feet broad, but quite deep and picturesque. On leaving our 
canoe, we made our way up a mountain road, and after walk- 
ing about four miles, came out upon an elevated clearing, of 
some two hundred acres, in the centre of which was a soli- 
tary log cabin with a retinue of out-houses, and this was the 
famous Newcomb Farm. 

The attractions of this spot are manifold, for it lies in the 
vicinity of Moose Lake and Lake Delia, and commands the 
finest distant prospect of the Adirondac mountains which 
has yet been discovered. 

Moose Lake lies at the west of the farm, and about six 
miles distant. It is embosomed among mountains, and the 
fountain head of the Cold River, which empties into the 
St. Lawrence. In form it is so nearly round that its entire 
shore may be seen at one view ; the bottom is covered with 
white sand, and the water is remarkably cold and clear. Con- 
sidering its size, it is said to contain more trout than any 



DEATH OF A DEER. 75 

lake in this wilderness, and it is also celebrated as a watering 
place for deer and moose. In fishing from the shore, one of 
our party caught no less than forty pounds of trout in about 
two hours. There were two varieties, and they varied from 
one to two pounds in weight. Our guide to this lake, where 
we encamped for one night, was Steuben Hewitt, the keeper 
of the Newcomb Farm, who is quite a hunter. This woods- 
man got the notion into his head that he must have a veni- 
son steak for his supper. We had already seen some half d ozen 
deer walking along the opposite margin of the lake, but Steuben 
told us that he would wait until after dark to capture his game. 
He also told us that the deer were in the habit of visiting the 
wilder lakes of this region at night, for the purpose of escap- 
ing the tormenting flies, and as he spoke so confidently of 
what he intended to accomplish, we awaited his efifort with a 
degree of anxiety. Soon as the quiet night had fairly set in, 
he shipped himself on board a wooden canoe, (a rickety aflair, 
originally bequeathed to this lake by some departed Indian,) 
in the bow of which was a fire jack, or torch holder. Sepa- 
rating this machine from himself, as he sat in the centre of 
the canoe, was a kind of screen made of bark, which was 
sufficiently elevated to allow him to fire his gun from under- 
neath; and in this predicament, with a loaded rifle by his 
side, did he paddle into the lake. After floating upon the 
water for an hour, in perfect silence, he finally heard a splash- 
ing near the shore, and immediately lighting his torch, he 
noiselessly proceeded in the direction of the sound, when he 
discovered a beautiful deer, standing knee deep in the water, 
and looking at him in stupefied silence. The poor creature 
could discover nothing but the mysterious light, and while 
standing in the most interesting attitude imaginable, the 
hunter raised his rifle, and shot it through the heart. In half 
an hour from that time, the carcass of the deer was hanging 
on a dry limb near our camp fire, and I was lecturing the 



76 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

hard-hearted hunter on the cruelty of thus capturing the in- 
nocent creatures of the forest. To all my remarks, how- 
ever, he replied, " They were given us for food, and it mat- 
ters not how we kill them." 

Lake Delia, through which you have to pass in going to 
Moose Lake, lies about two miles west of the Newcomb 
Farm. It is four miles long, and less than one mile in width, 
and completely surrounded with wood-crowned hills. Near 
the central portion, this lake is quite narrow, and so shallow 
that a rude bridge has been thrown across for the accommo- 
dation of the Farm people. The water under this bridge is 
only about four feet deep, and this was the only spot in the 
lake where I followed my favorite recreation. I visited it on 
one occasion, with my companions, late in the afternoon, 
when the wind was blowing, and we enjoyed rare sport in 
angling for salmon trout, as well as a large species of com- 
mon trout. I do not know the number that we took, but I 
well remember that we had more than we could conveniently 
carry. Usually, the salmon trout are only taken in deep 
water, but in this, and in Moose Lake, they seem to be as 
much at home in shallow as in deep water. On one occa- 
sion I visited Lake Delia alone at an early hour in the morning. 
It so happened, that I took a rifle along with me^ and while 
quietly throwing my fly on the old bridge, T had an opportu- 
nity of using the gun to some purpose. My movements in 
that lonely place were so exceedingly still, that even the 
wild animals were not disturbed by my presence ; for while 
I stood there, a large fat otter made his appearance, and when 
he came within shooting distance, I gave him the contents of 
my gun, and he disappeared. I related the adventure to my 
companions, on my return to the farm, but they pronounced 
it a " fish story." My veracity was vindicated, however, 
for, on the following day, they discovered a dead otter on the 
lake shore, and concluded that I had told the truth. 



THE NEWCOMB FARM. 77 

I must not conclude this chapter without giving my reader 
an additional paragrapli about the Newcomb Farm. My 
friend Steuben Hewitt's nearest neighbor is eight miles off, 
and as his family is small, it may be supposed that he leads a 
retired life. One of the days that I spent at his house, was 
quite an eventful one with him, for a town election was held 
there. The electors met at nine o'clock, and the poll closed 
at five ; and as the number of votes polled was seven,, it may 
well be imagined that the excitement was intense. But with 
all its loneliness the Newcomb Farm is well worth visiting, if 
for no other purpose than to witness the panorama of moun- 
tains which it commands. On every side but one may they 
be seen, fading away to mingle their deep blue wdth the lighter 
hue of the sky, but the chief among them all is old Ta- 
hawus, King of the Adirondacs. The country out of which 
this mountain rises, is an imposing Alpine wilderness, and as 
it has long since been abandoned by the red man, the solitude 
of its deep valleys and lonely lakes for the most part, is now 
more impressive than that of the far off Rocky Mountains. 
The meaning of the Indian word Tahawus is shy piercer or 
sky splitter ; and faithfully describes the appearance of the 
mountain. Its actual elevation above the level of the sea is 
five thousand four hundred and sixty-seven feet, while that 
of Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, is only six thou- 
sand two hundred and thirty-four, making a difference of only 
seven hundred and sixty-seven feet in favor of Washington. 
Though Tahawus is not quite so lofty as its New England 
brother, yet its form is by far the most picturesque and im- 
posing. Taken together, they are the highest pair of moun- 
tains in the United States. 

Before going one step further, I must allude to what I deem 
the folly of a certain state geologist, in attempting to name 
the prominent peaks of the Adirondac Mountains after a bro- 
therhood of living men. If he is to have his way in this 



78 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

matter, the beautiful name of Tahawus will be superseded 
by that of Marcy, and several of Tahawus' brethren are 
hereafter to be known as Mounts Seward, Wright and Young. 
Now if this business is not supremely ridiculous, I must con- 
fess that I do not know the meaning of that word. A pretty 
idea, indeed, to scatter to the winds the ancient poetry of the 
poor Indian, and perpetuate in its place the names of living 
politicians. For my part, I agree most decidedly with the 
older inhabitants of the Adirondac wilderness, who look with 
obvious indifference upon the attempted usurpation of the 
geologist already mentioned. 

For nine months in the year old Tahawus is covered with 
a crown of snow, but there are spots among its fastnesses 
where you may gather ice and snow even in the dog days. 
The base of this mountain is covered with a luxuriant forest 
of pine, spruce and hemlock, while the sum.mit is clothed in 
a net-work of creeping trees, and almost destitute of the 
green which should characterize them. In ascending its 
sides when near the summit, you are impressed with the idea 
that your pathway may be smooth ; but as you proceed, you 
are constantly annoyed by pit-falls, into which your legs are 
foolishly poking themselves, to the great annoyance of your 
back bone and other portions of your body which are 
naturally straight. 

I ascended Tahawus, as a matter of course, and in making 
the trip I travelled some twenty miles on foot and through 
the pathless woods, employing for the same the better part 
of two days. My companion on this expedition was John 
Cheney, (of whom I have something to write hereafter,) and 
as he did not consider it prudent to spend the night on the 
summit, we only spent about one hour gazing upon the 
panorama from the top, and then descended about half way 
down the mountain where we built our watch fire. The 
view from Tahawus is rather unique. It looks down upon 



A NIGHT ON TAHAWUS. 79 

what appears to be an uninhabited wilderness, with moun- 
tains, fading to the sky in every direction, and where, on a 
clear day, you may count not less than twenty-four lakes, 
including Chaniplain, Horicon,Long Lake and Lake Pleasant. 
\ While trying to go to sleep on the night in question, as 
I lay by the side of my friend Cheney, he gave me an 
account of the manner in which certain distinguished 
gentlemen have ascended Mount Tahawus, for it must be 
known that he officiates as the guide of all travellers in this 
wild region. Among those to whom he alluded were Ing- 
ham and Cole the artists, and Hoffman and Headley the 
travellers. He told me that Mr. Ligham fainted a number of 
times in making the ascent, but became so excited with all 
that he saw, he determined to persevere, and finally succeed- 
ed in accomplishing the difficult task. Mr. Hoffman, he 
said, in spite of his lameness, would not be persuaded by 
words that he could not reach the summit ; and when he 
finally discovered that this task was utterly beyond his 
accomplishment, his disappointment seemed to have no 
bounds. 

The night that I spent on Tahawus was not distinguished 
by any event more remarkable than a regular built rain- 
storm. Our canopy was composed of hemlock branches, 
and our only covering was a blanket. The storm did not set 
in until about midnight, and my first intimation of its approach, 
was the falling of rain drops directly into my ear, as I snug- 
ged up to my bed-fellow for the purpose of keeping warm. 
Desperate, indeed, were the efforts I made to forget my con- 
dition in sleep, as the rain fell more abundantly, and drenched 
me, as well as my companion, to the very skin. The thun- 
der bellowed as if in the enjoyment of a very happy frolic, 
and the lightning seemed determined to root up a few trees in 
our immediate vicinity, as if for the purpose of giving us more 
room. Finally Cheney rose from his pillow, (which was a log 



80 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

of wood,) and proposed that we should quaff a little brandy, to 
keep us from catching cold, which we did, and then made 
another attempt to reach the land of Nod. * * * At 
the break of day we were awakened from a short but refresh- 
ing sleep, by the singing of birds, and when the cheerful 
moonlight had reached the bottom of the ravines, we were 
enjoying a comfortable breakfast in the cabin of my friend. 

The principal attractions associated with Tahawus, are 
the Indian Pass, the Adirondac Lakes, the Adirondac iron 
works, and the mighty hunter of the Adirondacs, John 
Cheney. The Pass, so called, is only an old-fashioned notch 
between the mountains. On one side is a perpendicular 
precipice, rising to the height of eleven hundred feet; and, on 
the other, a wood-covered mountain, ascending far up into 
the sky, at an angle of forty-five degrees. Through this pass 
flows a tiny rivulet, over which the rocks are so thickly 
piled, as frequently to form pitfalls that measure from ten to 
thirty feet in depth. — Some of these holes are never destitute 
of ice, and are cool and comfortable even at midsummer. 
The Pass is nearly half a mile in length, and, at one point, 
certain immense boulders have come together and formed a 
cavern, which is called the " meeting house," and is, per- 
haps, capable of containing one thousand people. The rock 
on either side of the Pass is a gray granite, and its only in- 
habitants are eagles, which are quite abundant, and occupy 
the most conspicuous crag in the notch. 

The two principal lakes which gem the Adirondac wilder- 
ness, are named Sanford and Henderson, after the two gen- 
tlemen who first purchased land upon their borders. The 
former is five miles in length, and the latter somewhat less 
than three, both of them varying in width from half a mile to 
a mile and a half. The mountains which swoop down to their 
bosoms are covered with forest, and abound in a great variety 
of large game. There is not, to my knowledge, a single 



1 



LAKES SANFORD AND HENDERSON. 81 

habitation on either of the lakes, and the only smoke ever 
seen to ascend from their lonely recesses, comes from the 
watch-fire of the hunter, or the encampment of surveyors 
and tourists. — Tlie water of these lakes is cold and deep, 
and moderately supplied with salmon trout. Lake Hender- 
son is admirably situated for the exciting sport of deer hunting, 
and though it contains two or three canoes, cannot be entered 
from the West Branch of the Hudson without making a por- 
tage. Through Lake Sanford, however, the Hudson takes 
a direct course, and there is nothing to impede the passage 
of a small boat to within a mile of the iron works, which 
are located in a valley between the two lakes. The fact is, 
during the summer there is quite an extensive business done 
on Lake Sanford, in the way of " bringing in" merchandize, 
and " carrying out" the produce of the forge. It was my 
misfortune to make the inward passage of the lake in com. 
pany with two ignorant Irishmen. Their boat was small, 
heavily laden, very tottleish and leaky. This was my only 
chance ; and on taking my seat with a palpitating heart, I 
made an express bargain with the men, that they should keep 
along the shore on their way up. They assented to my 
wishes, but immediately pulled for the very centre of the 
lake. I remonstrated, but they told me there was no danger. 
The boat was now rapidly filling with water, and though one 
was bailing with all his might, the rascals were determined 
not to accede to my wishes. The conclusion of the matter 
was that our shallop became water-logged, and on finally reach- 
ing the shore, the merchandize was greatly damaged, and I 
was just about as wet as I was angry at the miserable creatures, 
whose obstinacy had not only greatly injured their employers, 
but also endangered my own plunder as well as my life. 

The iron works alluded to above, are located in a narrow 
valley, and in the immediate vicinity of Lake Henderson, at 
a place called Mclntyre. Some time in the year 1830, a 
6 



82 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

couple of Scottish gentlemen, named Henderson and Mcln- 
tyre, purchased a large tract of wild land lying in this por- 
tion of New York. In the summer following, they passed 
through this wilderness on an exploring expedition, and with 
the assistance of their Indian guide, discovered that the bed 
of the valley in question was literally blocked up with iron 
ore. On making farther investigations, they found that the 
whole rocky region about them was composed of valuable 
mineral, and they subsequently established a regular-built 
iron establishment, which has been in operation ever since. 
A gentleman named Robinson afterwards purchased an in- 
terest in the concern, and it is now carried on by him and 
Mr. Mclntyre, though the principal stockholders are the 
wife and son of Mr. Henderson, deceased. 

The metal manufactured by this company is of the very best 
quality of bar-iron; and an establishment is now in progress 
of erection at Tahawus, twelve miles down the river, where 
a party of English gentlemen intend to manufacture every 
variety of steel. The iron works give employment to about 
one hundred and fifty men, whose wages vary from one to 
four dollars per day. The society of the place, you may 
well imagine, is decidedly original ; but the prominent indi- 
vidual, and only remarkable man who resides here, is John 
Cheney, the mighty hunter of the Adirondacs. For an ac- 
count of this man, the reader will please look into the fol- 
lowing chapter. 



CHAPTER VII. 

John Cheney, the Adirondac hunter — Sonie of his exploits. 

John Cheney's Cabin, June. 

John Cheney was born in New Hampshire, but spent his 
boyhood on the shores of Lake Champlain, and has resided 
in the Adirondac wilderness about thirteen years. He has 
a wife and one child, and lives in a comfortable cabin in the 
wild village of Mclntyre. His profession is that of a hunter, 
and he is in the habit of spending about one-half of his time 
in the woods. He is a remarkably amiable and intelligent 
man, and as unlike the idea I had formed of him as possible. 
I expected from all that I had heard, to see a huge, power- 
ful, and hairy Nimrod ; but, instead of such, I found him 
small in stature, and bearing more the appearance of a modest 
and thoughtful student. 

The walls of his cosy little house, containing one princi- 
pal room, are ornamented with a large printed sheet of the 
Declaration of Independence, and two engraved portraits of 
Washington and Jackson. Of guns and pistols he has an 
abundant supply, and also a good stock of all the conve- 
niences for camping among the mountains. He keeps one 
cow, which supplies his family with all the milk they need ; 
but his favorite animals are a couple of hunting dogs named 
Buck and Tiger. 



84 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

As summer is not the time to accomplish much in the way 
of hunting, my adventures with John Cheney have not been 
distinguished by any stirring events ; we have, however, en- 
joyed some rare sport in the way of fishing, and obtained 
some glorious views from the mountain peaks of this region. 
But the conversation of this famous Nimrod has interested 
me exceedingly, and wherever we might be, under his own 
roof, or by the side of our mountain watch-fires, I have kept 
him busy in recounting his former adventures. I copied into 
my note-book nearly everything he said, and now present 
my readers with a i'ew extracts relating to his hunting ex- 
ploits. I shall use his own words as nearly as I can remem- 
ber them. 

* ijc * * * * 

" I was always fond of hunting, and the first animal I 
killed was a fox ; I was then ten years of age. Even from 
childhood, I was so in love with the woods that I not only 
neglected school, but was constantly borrowing a gun, or 
stealing the one belonging to my father, with which to fol- 
low my favorite amusement. He found it a useless busi- 
ness to make a decent boy of me, and in a fit of desperation 
he one day presented me with a common fowling piece. I 
was the youngest of thirteen children, and was always called 
the black sheep of the family. I have always enjoyed good 
health, and am forty-seven years of age ; but I have now 
passed my prime, and don't care about exposing myself to 
any useless dangers. 

* * i:J * « * 

" You ask me if I ever hunt on Sunday ; no, sir, I do not. 
I have always been able to kill enough on week days to give 
me a comfortable living. Since I came to live among the 
Adirondacs, I have killed six hundred deer, four hundred 
sable, nineteen moose, twenty-eight bears, six ivolves, seven 
wild cats, thirty otter, one panther and one beaver. 



HUNTING STORIES. 85 

" As to that beaver I was speaking about, it took me three 
years to capture him, for he was an old fellow, and remark- 
ably cunning. He was the last, from all that I can learn, 
that was ever taken in the State. One of the Long Lake 
Indians often attempted to trap him, but without success; he 
usually found his trap sprung, but could never get a morsel 
of the beaver's tail ; and so it was with me, too; but I finally 
fixed a trap under the water, near the entrance to his dam, 
and it so happened that he one day stepped into it and was 
drowned. 

****** 

" I was going to tell you something about my dogs, Buck 
and Tiger. I've raised some fifty of these animals in my 
day, but I never owned such a tormented smart one as that 
fellow Buck. I believe there's a good deal of the English 
mastiff in him, but a keener eye than he carries in his head 
I never saw. Only look at that breast of his ; did you ever see 
a thicker or more solid one 1 He's handsomely spotted, as you 
may see, but some of the devilish Lake Pleasant Indians cut 
off his ears and tail about a year ago, and he now looks rather 
odd. You may not believe it, but I have seen a good many 
men who were not half as sensible as that very dog. When- 
ever^the fellow's hungry he always seats himself at my feet 
and gives three short barks, which is his way of telling me 
that he would like some bread and meat. If the folks hap- 
pen to be away from home, and he feels a little sharp, he pays 
a regular visit to all the houses in the village, and after play- 
ing with the children, barks for a dry crust, which he always 
receives, and then comes back to his own home. He's quite 
a favorite among the children, and I've witnessed more than 
one fight because some wicked little scamp had thrown a 
stone at him. When I speak to him he understands me just 
as well as you do. I can wake him out of a sound sleep, 
and by my saying, 'Buck, go up and kiss the baby,' he 



86 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

will march directly to the cradle and lick the baby's face ; and 
the way he watches that baby when it's asleep, is perfectly 
curious, — he'd tear you to pieces in three minutes if you 
were to try to take it away. Buck is now four years old, and 
though he's helped me to kill several hundred deer, he never 
lost one for me yet. Whenever I go a hunting, and don't 
want him along, I have only to say, ' Buck, you must not go,' 
— and he remains quiet; there's no use in chaining him, I tell 
you, for he understands his business. This dog never starts 
after a deer until I tell him to go, even if the deer is in 
sight. Why 'twas only the other day that Tiger brought in 
a doe to Lake Colden, where the two had a desperate fight 
within a hundred yards of the spot where Buck and myself 
were seated. I wanted to try the metal of Tiger, and told 
Buck he must not stir, though I went up to the doe to see 
what the result would be between the fighters. Buck didn't 
move out of his tracks, but the way he howled for a little 
taste of blood was perfectly awful. I almost thought the 
fellow would die in his agony. Buck is of great use to me, 
when I am off hunting, in more ways than one. If I happen 
to be lost in a snow storm, which is sometimes the case, I 
only have to tell him to go home, and if I follow his tracks I 
am sure to come out in safety ; and when sleeping in the 
woods at night, I never have any other pillow than Buck's 
body. As to my black dog Tiger, he isn't quite two years 
old 5-et, but he's going to make a great hunter. I am trying 
hard now-a-days to break him of a very foolish habit of kill- 
ing porcupines. Not only does he attack every one he sees, 
but he goes out to hunt them, and often comes home all 
covered with their quills. It was only the other day that he 
came home with about twenty quills working their way into 
his snout. It so happened, however, that they did not kill 
him, because he let me pull them all out with a pair of pin- 
cers, and that too without budging an inch. About the story 



HUNTING STORIES. 87 

people tell, that the porcupine throws its quills, I can tell you 
it's no such thing, — it is only when the quills touch the dog, 
that they come out and work their way through his body. 
****** 

" As to deer hunting, I can tell you more stories in that line 
than you'd care about hearing. They have several ways of 
killing them in this quarter, and some of their ways are so 
infernal mean. I'm surprised that there should be any deer 
left in the country. In the first place, there's the ' still 
hunting' fashion, when you lay in ambush near a salt lick, 
and shoot the poor creatures when they're not thinking of 
you. And there's the beastly manner of blinding them with 
a * torch light' when they come into the lakes to cool them- 
selves, and get away from the flies, during the warm nights 
of summer. Now I say, that no decent man will take this 
advantage of wild game, unless he is in a starving condition. 
The only manly way to kill deer is by 'driving' them, as 
I do, with a couple of hounds. 

" There isn't a creature in this whole wilderness that I think 
so much of as a deer. They are so beautiful, with their bright 
eyes, graceful necks, and sinewy legs; and they are so swift, 
and make such splendid leaps when hard pressed; why, 
I've seen a buck jump from a cliff" that was forty feet high, 
and that, too, without injuring a hair. I wish I could get my 
living without killing this beautiful animal! — but I must live, 
and I suppose they were made to die. The cry of the deer, 
when in the agonies of death, is the awfulest sound I ever 
heard ; — I'd a good deal rather hear the scream of the pan- 
ther, provided I have a ball in my pistol, and the pistol is 
in my hand. I wish they would never speak so. 

" The time for taking deer is in the fall and winter. It's a 
curious fact, that when a deer is at all frightened, he cannot 
stand upon smooth ice, while, at the same time, when not 
afraid of being caught, he will not only walk, but actually 



88 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

trot across a lake as smooth as glass. It's a glorious sight 
to see them running down the mountains, with the dogs howl- 
ing behind ; but I don't think I ever saw a more beautiful 
race than I once did on Lake Henderson, between a buck 
deer and my dog Buck, when the lake was covered with a 
light fall of snow. I had put Back upon a fresh track, and 
was waiting for him on the lake shore. Presently, a splen- 
did deer bounded out of the woods upon the ice, and as the 
dog was only a few paces off, he led the race directly across 
the lake. Away they ran as if a hurricane was after them ; 
crossed the lake, then back again. Then they made another 
wheel, and having run to the extreme southern point of the 
lake, again returned, when the deer's wind gave out, and the 
dog caught and threw the creature, into whose throat I soon 
plunged my knife, and the race was ended. 

" I never was so badly hurt in hunting any animal as I 
have been in hunting deer. It was while chasing a buck on 
Cheney's Lake, (which was named after me by Mr. Hen- 
derson in commemoration of my escape,) that I once shot 
myself in a very bad way. I was in a canoe, and had laid 
my pistol down by my side, when, as I was pressing hard 
upon the animal, my pistol slipped under me in some queer 
way, and went off, sending a ball into my leg, just above the 
ankle, which came out just below the knee. I knew something 
terrible had happened, and though I thought that I might die, I 
was determined that the deer should die first; and I did suc- 
ceed in killing him before he reached the shore. But, soon 
as the excitement was over, the pain I had felt before was 
increased a thousand-fold, and I felt as if all the devils in 
hell were dragging at my leg, the weight and the agony were so 
great. I had never suffered so before, and I thought it strange. 
You may not believe it, but when that accident happened, I 
was fourteen miles from home, and yet, even with that used- 
up leg, I succeeded in reaching my home, where I was con- 



HUNTING STORIES. 89 

fined to my bed from October until April. That was a great 
winter for hunting which I missed ; but my leg got entirely 
well, and is now as good as ever. 

* # * * ;^ * 

"The most savage animal that I hunt for among these 
mountains, is the moose, or caraboo, as I have heard some 
people call them. They're quite plenty in the region of 
Long Lake and Lake Pleasant ; and if the hunter don't un- 
derstand their ways, he'll be likely to get killed before he 
thinks of his danger. The moose is the largest animal of 
the deer kind, or, in fact, of any kind that we find in this 
part of the country. His horns are very large, and usually 
look like a pair of crab-apple trees. He has a long head, 
long legs, and makes a great noise when he travels; his flesh 
is considered first rate, for he feeds upon grass, and the ten- 
der buds of the moose maple. He is a rapid traveller, and 
hard to tire out. In winter they run in herds ; and when 
the snow is deep, they generally live in one particular place in 
the woods which we call a ' yard.' The crack time for kill- 
ing them is the winter, when we can travel on the snow with 
our braided snow shoes. 

" I once killed two moose before nine o'clock in the morn- 
ing. I had been out a hunting for two days, in the winter, 
and when night came on, I had to camp out near the foot of 
old Tahawus. When I got up in the morning, and was about 
to start for home, I discovered a yard, where lay a couple of 
bull moose. I don't know what they were thinking about, 
but just as soon as they saw me, they jumped up, and made 
directly towards the place where I was standing. I couldn't 
get clear of their ugly feet without running, so I put for a 
large dead tree that had blown over, and walking to the butt 
end of it, which was some ten feet high, looked down in 
safety upon the devils. They seemed to be very mad about 
something, and did everything they could to get at me, by 



90 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

running around ; and I remember they ran together, as if they 
had been yoked. 1 waited for a good chance to shoot, and 
when I got it, fired a ball clear through one of the animals, 
into the shoulder of the second. The first one dropped dead 
as a door nail, but the other took to his heels, and after going 
about fifty rods, concluded to lie down. I then came up to 
him, keeping my dogs back for the purpose of sticking him, 
when he jumped up again, and put after me like lightning. 
I ran to a big stump, and after I had fairly fixed myself, I 
loaded again, and again fired, when the fellow tumbled in the 
snow quite dead. He was eight feet high, and a perfect 

roarer. 

* * * * * * . 

^ " Another animal that we sometimes find pretty plenty in 
these woods, is the big gray wolf ; they are savage fellows, 
and dangerous to meet with when angry. On getting up 
early one winter morning, I noticed, in the back part of my 
garden, what I thought to be a wolf track. I got my gun, 
called for my dogs, and started on the hunt. I found the fel- 
low in his den among the mountains. I kindled a fire, and 
smoked him out. I then chased him for about two miles, 
when he came to bay. He was a big fellow, and my dogs 
were afraid to clinch in ; — dogs hate a wolf worse than any 
other animal. I found I had a fair chance, so I fired at the 
creature; but my gun missed fire. The wolf then attacked 
me, and in striking him with my gun, I broke it all to pieces. 
I was in a bad fix, I tell you, but I immediately threw myself 
on my back, with my snow shoes above me, when the wolf 
jumped right on to my body, and, probably, would have killed 
me, had it not been for my dog Buck, who worried the wolf 
so badly, that the devil left me, to fight the dog. While they 
were fighting with all their might, I jumped up, took the bar- 
rel of my gun, and settled it right into the brain of the 



HUNTING STORIES. 91 

savage animal. That was the largest wolf ever killed in this^ 

wilderness. / 

****** 

" One of the hardest fights I ever had in these woods was 
with a black bear. I was coming from a winter hunt. The 
snow was very deep, and I had on my snow shoes. It so 
happened, as I was coming down a certain mountain, the 
snow suddenly gave way under me, and I fell into the hole 
or winter quarters of one of the blackest and largest bears 
I ever saw. The fellow was quite as much frightened as 
I was, and he scampered out of the den in a great hurry. 
I was very tired, and had only one dog with me at the time, 
but I put after him. I had three several battles with him, 
and in one of these he struck my hand with such force as to 
send my gun atleast twenty or thirty feet from where we stood. 
I finally managed to kill the rascal, however, but not until he 
had almost destroyed the life of my dog. That was a noble 
dog; but in that battle he received his death-wound. He 
couldn't walk at the time, and though I was nine miles from 
home, I took him up in my arms and brought him ; but with 
all my nursing I could not get him up again, for he died at 
the end of a few weeks. That dog was one of the best 
friends I ever had. 

****** 

" But the most dangerous animal in this country is the yel- 
low panther or painter. They are not very plenty, and so 
tormented cunning that it is very seldom you can kill one. 
They are very ugly, but don't often attack a man unless 
cornered or wounded. They look and act very much like a 
cat, only that they are very large ; I never killed but one, and 
his body was five feet long, and his tail between three and 
four. At night their eyes look like balls of fire, and when 
they are after game they make a hissing noise, which is very 
dreadful to hear. Their scream is also very terrible, and I 



92 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

never saw the man who was anxious to hear it more than 
once. They are seldom hunted as a matter of business, but 
usually killed by accident. 

" The panther I once killed, I came across in this manner. 
I was out on Lake Henderson with two men, catching fish 
through the ice, when we saw two wolves come on to the ice 
in great haste, looking and acting as if they had been pur- 
sued. I proposed to the men that we should all go and kill 
them if we could. They wanted to fish, or were a little afraid, 
so I took my gun and started after the game. I followed 
them some distance, when, as they were scaling a ledge, they 
were attacked by a big panther, and a bloody fight took place. 
From the appearance of the animals, I supposed that they 
had met before, which was the cause why the wolves came 
upon the lake. During the scuffle between the animals, it 
is a singular fact that they all three tumbled off the precipice 
and fell through the air about one hundred feet. The wolves 
jumped up and ran away, while the panther started in another 
direction. I followed his track, and after travelling a number 
of hours, overtook him, and managed to shoot him through the 
shoulder. He then got into a tree, and as he was lashing his 
tail and getting ready to pounce upon me, I gave him another 
ball, and he fell to the earth with a crash, and was quite dead. 
I then went to the lake and got the men to help me home with 
my booty," 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Burlington — Lake Champlain — Distinguished men. 

Burlington, June. 

Or all the towns which I have seen, Burlington, in Ver- 
mont, is decidedly one of the most beautiful. It stands on 
the shore of Lake Champlain, and from the water to its 
eastern extremity is a regular elevation, which rises to the 
height of some three hundred feet. Its streets are broad and 
regularly laid out ; the generality of its buildings elegant, and 
its inhabitants well educated, refined and wealthy. My visit 
here is now about to close, and I cannot but follow the im- 
pulses of my heart, by giving my reader a brief account of 
its principal picturesque attractions, and some information 
concerning a few of its public men. 

As a matter of course, my first subject is Lake Champlain. 
In approaching it from the south, and particularly from Hori- 
con, one is apt to form a wrong opinion of its picturesque 
features ; but you cannot pass through it without being lavish 
in its praise. It extends, in a straight line from south to 
north, somewhat over an hundred miles, and lies between 
the States of New York and Vermont. It is the gateway 
between the country on the St. Lawrence, and that on the 
Hudson, and it is, therefore, extensively navigated by ves- 
sels and steamboats. It is surrounded with flourishing vil- 



94 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

iages, whose population is generally made up of New Eng- 
landers and Canadians. Its width varies from half a mile 
to thirteen ; but its waters are muddy, excepting in the vici- 
nity of Burlington. Its islands are not numerous, but one 
of them, Grand Isle, is sufficiently large to support four vil- 
lages. Its scenery may be denominated bold ; on the west are 
the Adirondac Mountains, and at some distance on the east, 
the beautiful Green Mountains, whose glorious commanders 
are Mansfield Mountain and the Camel's Hump. Owing to 
the width of the lake at Burlington, and the beauty of the 
western mountains, the sunsets that are here visible, are ex- 
ceedingly superb. 

The classic associations of this lake are uncommonly inte- 
resting. Here are the moss-covered ruins of Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point, whose present occupants are the snake, 
(he lizard and toad. Leaden and iron balls, broken bayonets, 
and English flints have I picked up on their ramparts, which 
I cannot look upon without thinking of death-struggles and 
the horrible shout of war. And there, too, is Plattsburgh, 
in whose waters Commodore McDonough vindicated the 
honor of the Stars and Stripes of Freedom. As to the fish- 
ing of this lake, I have but a word to say. Excepting trout, 
almost every variety of fresh water fish is found here in 
abundance ; but the water is not pure, which is ever a serious 
drawback to my enjoyment in wetting the line. Lake Cham- 
plain received its name from a French nobleman who disco- 
vered it in 1609, and who died at Quebec in 1635. 

The associations I am now to speak of are of a per- 
sonal character ; and the first of the three names before me 
is that of Joseph Torrey, the present Professor of Moral and 
Intellectual Philosophy in the University of Vermont. As 
a citizen, he is one of the most amiable and beloved of men. 
As one of the faculty of the university, he occupies a high 
rank, and is a particular favorite with all his students. A 



JOSEPH TORREY. 95 

pleasing evidence of the latter fact I noticed a few days since, 
when it was reported among the students that the Professor 
had returned from a visit to the Springs for his health. I 
was in company with some half-dozen of them at the time, 
and these are the remarks they made. " How is his health ?" 
" I hope he has improved !" " Now shall I be happy — for ever 
since he went away, the recitation room has been a cheerless 
place to me." "Now shall I be advised as to my essay!" 
"Now shall my poem be corrected!" " Now in my trouble 
shall I have the sympathies of a true friend !" Much more mean- 
ing is contained in these simple phrases than what meets the eye. 
Surely, if any man is to be envied, it is he who has a place in 
the affections of all who know him. As a scholar, too. Professor 
Torrey occupies an exalted station, as will be proven to the 
world in due time. He has never published anything but an 
occasional article for a review, and the memoir of President 
Marsh, (who was his predecessor in the university,) as con- 
tained in the admirable volume of his Remains, which should 
occupy a conspicuous place in the library of every American 
scholar and Christian. The memoir is, indeed, a rare speci- 
men of that kind of writing, — beautifully written, and per- 
vaded by a spirit of refinement that is delightful. But I was 
mostly interested in Mr. Torrey as a man of taste in the Fine 
Arts. In everything but the mere execution, he is a genuine 
artist, and long may I remember the counsels of his experi- 
ence and knowledge. A course of Lectures on the Arts 
forms a portion of his instruction as Professor, and I trust 
that they will eventually be published for the benefit of our 
country. He has also translated from the German of Schel- 
ling, a most admirable discourse, entitled " Relation of the 
Arts of Design to Nature;" a copy of which ought to be in 
the possession of every young artist. Mr. Torrey has been an 
extensive traveller in Europe, and being a lover, and an acute 
observer of everything connected with literature and art, it is 



A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

quite a luxury to hear him expatiate upon " the wonders he 
has seen." He also examines everything with the eye of a 
philosopher, and his conclusions are ever of practical utility. 
Not only can he analyze in a profound manner the principles 
of metaphysical learning, but with the genuine feelings of a 
poet, descant upon the triumphs of poetic genius, or point 
out the mind-charms of a Claude or Titian. He is — but 
I will not say all that I would, for fear that at our next meet- 
ing he would chide me for my boyish personalities. Let me 
conclude, then, reader, with the advice, that, if you ever 
chance to meet the Professor in your travels, you must en- 
deavor to secure an introduction, which I am sure you cannot 
but ever remember with unfeigned pleasure. 

John Henry Hopkins, D. D., Bishop of Vermont, is another 
of the principal attractions of Burlington. The history of 
his life, the expression of his countenance, and his general 
deportment all speak of the "peace of God." Considering 
the number and diversity of his acquirements, I think him a 
very remarkable man. He is not only, in point of character, 
well worthy of his exalted station as Bishop, but as a theo- 
logian learned and eloquent to an uncommon degree. His 
contributions to the world of letters are of rare value, as he 
has published volumes entitled " Christianity Vindicated," 
"The Primitive Church," "The Primitive Creed," "The 
Church of Rome," "British Reformation," and "Letters to 
the Clergy." His style of writing is persuasive, vigorous, 
and clear, and all his conclusions seem to have been formed 
in full view of the Bible, which is a virtue well worth noticing 
in these degenerate days. It is because of his honesty and 
soundness, 1 suppose, that some of his own church are 
disaffected with his straightforward conduct. Bishop Hop- 
kins, as a divine, is of the same school with the late Bishop 
White, and therefore among the most eminently wise and 
good of his country. 



GEORGE P. MARSH. 

The Bishop of Vermont is also a man of remarkable taste 
with regard to Architecture, Music and Painting, in which 
departments, as an amateur, he has done himself great credit. 
Not only did he plan and superintend the building of an 
edifice for his recent school, but has published an interesting 
book on Architecture, wherein he appears to be as much at 
home as if he were Christopher Wren. Knowing the market 
to be full of sentimental nonsense in the way of songs, he com- 
posed, for the benefit of his own children, a few with a moral 
tone, which he also set to music, and are now published as a 
worthy tribute to his fine feelings and the correctness of his 
ear. But he ranks still higher as a man of taste in the ca- 
pacity of Painter. The Vermont drawing-book, which he 
published, is an evidence of his ability as a draftsman. The 
family portraits which adorn his walls prove him to have an 
accurate eye for color, and an uncommon knowledge of 
effect; — and his oil sketches of scenes from nature give 
token of an ardent devotion to nature. But the best, in my 
opinion, of all his artistical productions, is a picture repre- 
senting our " Saviour blessing little children." Its concep- 
tion, grouping and execution are all of very great merit, and 
I am persuaded will one day be looked upon with peculiar 
interest by the lovers and judges of art in this country. 
Though done in water colors, and considered by the artist as 
a mere sketch for a larger picture, there are some heads in it 
that would have called forth a compliment even from the 
lamented Allston. Would that he could be influenced to 
send it, for exhibition, to our National Academy ! And thus 
endeth my humble tribute of applause to a gifted man. 

I now come to the Hon. George P. Marsh, of whom, if I 
were to follow the bent of my feelings, I could write a com- 
plete volume. Though yet in the early prime of life, he is 
a sage in learning and wisdom. After leaving college he 
settled in Burlington, where he has since resided, dividing 
7 



98 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

his time between his legal profession and the retirement of 
his study. With a large and liberal heart, he possesses all 
the endearing and interesting qualities which belong to the 
true and accomplished gentleman. Like all truly great men, 
he is exceedingly retiring and modest in his deportment, and 
one of that rare class who seem never excited by the voice 
of fame. About four years ago, almost without his knowledge, 
he was elected to a seat in the lower house of Congress, 
where he at once began to make an impression as a states- 
man. Though few have been his public speeches, they are 
remarkable for sound political logic and the classic elegance 
of their language. As an orator, he is not showy and pas- 
sionate, but plain, forcible and earnest. 

But it is in the walks of private life that Mr. Marsh is to 
be mostly admired. His knowledge of the Fine Arts is 
probably more extensive than that of any other man in this 
country, and his critical taste is equal to his knowledge ; but 
that department peculiarly his hobby, is engraving. He has 
a passion for line engravings ; and it is unquestionably true, 
that his collection is the most valuable and extensive in the 
Union. He is well acquainted with the history of this art 
from the earliest period, and also with its various mechanical 
ramifications. He is as familiar with the lives and peculiar 
styles of the Painters and Engravers of antiquity, as with his 
household affairs ; and when he talks to you on his favorite 
theme, it is not to display his learning, but to make you 
realize the exalted attributes and mission of universal art. 

As an author, Mr. Marsh has done but little in extent, 
but enough to secure a seat beside such men as Edward 
Everett, with whom he has been compared. He has pub- 
lished (among his numerous things of the kind) a pamphlet, 
entitled " The Goths in New England," which is a fine 
specimen of chaste writing and beautiful thought; also ano- 
ther on the " History of the Mechanic Arts," which contains 



I 



A RARE LIBRARY. 99 



a great deal of rare and important information. He has also 
written an " Icelandic Grammar" of 158 pages, which created 
quite a sensation among the learned of Europe a few years 
ago. As to his scholarship — it can be said of him that he 
is a master in some twelve of the principal modern and 
ancient languages. He has not learned them merely for the 
purpose of being considered a literary prodigy, but to multiply 
his means of acquiring information, which information is 
intended to accomplish some substantial end. He is not a 
visionary, but a devoted lover of truth, whether it be in History, 
Poetry, or the Arts. 

But my chief object in speaking of this gentleman, was to 
introduce a passing notice of his library, which is undoubt- 
edly the most unique in the country. The building itself, 
which stands near his dwelling, is of brick, and arranged 
throughout with great taste. You enter it, as it was often 
my privilege, and find yourself in a complete wilderness of 
gorgeous books, and portfolios of engravings. Of books 
Mr. Marsh owns some five thousand volumes. His collec- 
tion of Scandinavian Literature is supposed to be more com- 
plete than any out of the Northern Kingdoms. To give 
you an idea of this literary treasure, I will mention a 
ievf of the rarest specimens. In old Northern Literature, 
here may be found the Arna Magnsean editions of old Ice- 
landic Sagas, all of those of Suhm, all those of the Royal 
Society of Northern Antiquaries, and in fact all those printed 
at Copenhagen and Stockholm, as well as in Iceland, with 
scarcely an exception. This library also contains the great edi- 
tions of Hehnskringla, the two Eddas, Xongs-Skugg-SJo, 
Konunga, Styrilse, the Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, Scrip- 
tores Rerum Svecicarum, Dansk Magazin, and two complete 
editions of Olaus Magnus, Saxo Grammaticus, the works of 
Bartholinus, Torfaus, Schoning, Suhm, Pontoppidan, Grundt- 
vig, Petersen, Rask, the Aplantica of Rudbeck, the great 



100 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

works of Sjoborg, Liljegren, Geijer, Cronholm and Strinn- 
holm, all the collections of Icelandic, Danish and Swedish 
laws, and almost all the writers, ancient and modern, who 
have treated of the language, literature, or history of the an- 
cient Scandinavian race. 

In modern Danish Literature, here may be found the works 
of Holberg,Wessel, Evvald, Hejberg, Baggesen, Ochlenschlse- 
ger, Nyerup, Ingemann, with other celebrated authors; in 
Swedish, those of Leopold Oxenstjerna, Bellman, Franzen, 
Atterbom, Tegner, Frederika Bremer, and, indeed, almost all 
the belles-lettres authors of Sweden, the Transactions of the 
Royal Academy of Science, (more than one hundred volumes,) 
those of the Swedish Academy, and of the Royal Academy 
of Literature, and many collections in documentary history, 
besides numerous other works. 

In Spanish and Portuguese, besides many modern authors, 
here are numerous old chronicles, such as the Madrid col- 
lection of old Spanish Chronicles, in seven volumes 4to. ; the 
Portuguese Livros inecUtos da Historia Fortugueza, five 
volumes folio ; Fernam Lopez, de Brito, Duarte Nunez de 
Liam, Damiam de Goes, de Barros, Castanheda, Resende, 
Andrada, Osorio ; also, de Menezes, Mariana, and others of 
similar character. In Italian, most of the best authors who 
have acquired a European reputation ; several hundred 
volumes of French works, including many of the ancient 
chronicles ; a fine collection in German, including many edi- 
tions of Reyneke de Vos, the Nibelungen, and other works 
of the middle ages. In classical literature, good editions of 
the most celebrated Greek and Latin authors ; and in Eng- 
lish, a choice selection of the best authors, among which 
should be mentioned as rare, in this country. Lord Berners' 
Froissart, Roger Ascham, the writings of King James I., 
John Smith's Virginia (edition of 1624), Amadis de Gaul, 
and Palmerin of England. In lexicography, the best die- 



A RARE LIBRARY. 101 

tionaries and grammars in all the languages of Western Eu- 
rope, and many biographical dictionaries and other works of 
reference in various languages. Many works, too, are here, 
on astrology, alchemy, witchcraft, and magic ; and a goodly 
number of works on the situation of Plato's Atlantis and 
Elysian Fields, such as Rudbeck's Allantica, Goropius Be- 
canus, de Grave Republique des Champs Elysees, and a 
host of others in every department of learning, the mere 
mention of which would cause the bookworm a thrill of 
delight. 

In the department of Art, Mr. Marsh possesses the Musee 
Francais, Musee Royal, (proof before letters,) Liber Verita- 
tis, Houghton Gallery, Florence Gallery, Publications of 
Dilettanti Society, and many other illustrated works and col- 
lections of engravings ; the works of Bartsch, Ottley, Mengs, 
Visconti, Winchelmann, and other writers on the history and 
theory of Art ; old illustrated works, among which are the 
original editions of Teuerdanck and Der Weiss Kunig ; and 
many thousand steel engravings, including many originals by 
Albert DiJrer, Luke of Leyden, Lucas Cranach, Aldegreuer, 
Wierx, the Sadelers Nauteuil, (among others the celebrated 
Louis XIV., size of life, and a proof of the Cadet a la Perle, 
by Masson,) Edelink, Drevet, Marc Antonio, and other old 
engravers of the Italian school; Callot, Ostade, Rembrandt, 
(including a most superb impression of the Christ Healing 
the Sick, the Hundred Guilder Piece, and the Portrait of Re- 
nier Ansloo,) Waterloo, Woollett, Sharp, Strange, Earlom, 
Wille, Ficquet Schmidt, Longhi, and Morghen; in short, 
nearly all the works of all the great masters in chalco- 
graphy from the time of Diirer to the present day. It were 
folly for me to praise these various works, and I have alluded 
to them merely for the purpose of letting you know some- 
thing of the taste and possessions of Mr. Marsh. His library 
is one of the most delightful places it has ever been my for- 



102 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

tune to visit, and the day that I became acquainted with the 
man, I cannot but consider as an era in my life. Morning, 
noon and evening did I linger with the master-spirits of 
olden time, collected in his library, and though I often stood 
in mute admiration of their genius, I was compelled to shed 
a tear, as I thought of the destiny as a writer which will pro- 
bably be mine. Thank God, there is no such thing as am- 
hition in that blessed world above the stars, which I hope 
to attain, — no ambition to harass the soul, — for, then will it 
be free to revel, and forever, in its holy and godlike concep- 
tions. But a truce to this strain of thought, and also to the 
Lions of Burlington, of whom I now take my leave with a 
respectful bow. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Stage coach — The Winooski — The Green Mountains — The ruhied dwell- 
ing — The White Mountains — The Flume — A deep pool — The Old 
Man of the Mountain — The Basin — Franconia Notch — View of the 
mountains — Mount Washington — The Notch Valley. 

In a Stage Coach. — June. 

Three lond knocks upon my bed-room door awakened 
me from "a deep dream of peace." "The Eastern stage is 
ready," said my landlord as he handed me a \\g\\{. Where- 
upon, in less than five minutes after the hour of three, I was 
on my way to the White Mountains, inditing on the tablet 
of my memory the following disjointed stage-coach rhapsody. 

A fine coach, fourteen passengers, and six superb horses. 
My seat is on the outside and my eyes on the alert for any- 
thing of peculiar interest which I may meet with in my 
journey. Now do the beautiful Green Mountains meet my 
view. The day is breaking, and lo ! upon either side of me, 
and like two leaders of an army, rise the peaks of Mansfield 
Mountains and the Camel's Hump. Around the former the 
cloud-spirits of early morning are picturing the fantastic po- 
etry of the sky; while just above the summit of the other 
may be seen the new moon and the morning star, waiting for 
the sun to come, like two sweet human sisters for the smiles 
and kisses of a returning father. And now, as the sunbeams 
glide along the earth, we are in the solitude of the mountains. 



104 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

and the avvakened mist-creatures are ascending from the cool 
and shady nooks in the deep ravines. 

Young Dana's description of a ship under full sail is very- 
fine, but it does not possess the living beauty of that picture 
now before me, in those six bay horses, straining every nerve 
to eclipse the morning breeze. Hold your breath, for the 
road is hard and smooth as marble, and the extended nostrils 
of those matchless steeds speak of a noble pride within. 
There, the race is done, the victory theirs, and now, as they 
trot steadil)' along, what music in the champing of those bits, 
and the striking of those iron-bound hoofs ! Of all the soul- 
less animals on earth, none do I love so dearly as the horse — 
I sometimes am inclined to think that they have souls. I 
respect a noble horse more than I do some men. Horses 
are the Indian chiefs of the brute creation. 

The Winooski, along whose banks runs the most pictur- 
esque stage route in Vermont, is an uncommonly interesting 
stream, rapid, clear, and cold. It is remarkable for its falls 
and narrow passes, where perpendicular rocks of a hundred 
feet or more frown upon its solitary pools. Its chief picto- 
rial attraction is the cataract at Waterbury, a deep and jagged 
chasm in the granite mountain, whose horrors are greatly 
increased by the sight and smothered howl of an avalanche 
of pure white foam. On its banks and forty miles from its 
outlet near Burlington, is situated Montpelier, the capital of 
Vermont. It is a compact town, mostly built upon two 
streets, and completely hemmed in by rich and cultivated 
mountains. Its chief attraction to my mind, however, during 
my short stay, was a pair of deep black eyes, only half visi- 
ble under their drooping lids. 

During one of my rambles near Montpelier, I discovered 
an isolated and abandoned dwelling, which stands upon a 
little plot of green, in the lap of the forest near the top of a 
mountain. I entered its deserted chambers and spent a long 



MARSHFIELD WATERFALL. 105 

time musing upon its solemn admonitions. The cellar had 
become the home of lizards and toads. The spider and 
cricket were masters of the hearth, where once had been 
spun the mountain legend by an old man to the only child 
of his widowed son. They were, as I am told, the last of 
a long line which once flourished in Britain, and with them 
their name would pass into forgetfulness. Only the years 
of a single generation have elapsed since then, but the dwell- 
ers of yonder mountain are sleeping in the grave. And is 
this passing record of their existence the only inheritance 
they have left behind? Most true; but would it have been 
better for them, or for us, had they bequeathed to the world 
a noted name or immense possessions? AVhat is our life? 

The route between Montpelier and Danville lies along the 
Winooski, and is not less beautiful than that down the river. 
Its chief picture is Marshfield Waterfall. While at Mont- 
pelier a pleasure ride was got up by some of my friends, 
and as they were bound to the East, and 1 was honored with 
an invitation, I sent on my baggage and joined them, so that 
the monotony of my journey was considerably relieved. 
We had our fishing-rods with us, and having stopped at the 
fall, we caught a fine mess of trout, which we had cooked 
for dinner at the next tavern on our way, — and our dessert 
was fine singing from the ladies, and good stories from the 
lips of Senator Phelps, who was of the party, and is cele- 
brated for his conversational powers. For further particulars 
concerning that expedition, I would refer my reader to that pair 
of eyes which I just now mentioned as having beamed upon 
me with a bewitching brilliancy. But alas ! the dear creature 
is already — excuse me, I cannot, I will not speak the hateful 
word. The lucky fellow ought to carry a liberal and kind 
soul hereafter, if he has never done so before. 

At cock-crowing this morning I was again in my seat out- 
side of the stage-coach, anxiously waiting for the mists to 



106 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

evaporate in the East. The sun proved to be my friend, 
and as soon as he appeared, they vanished like a frightened 
troop, and he was marching np the sky in the plenitude of 
his glory. And then, for the first time, did my vision rest 
upon the White Mountains, as they reposed in the distance, 
like a mighty herd of camels in the solitude of the desert. 
In the charming valley of the Connecticut we only tarried 
about ten minutes, but long enough for me to hear the mower 
whet his scythe, the "lark sing loud and high," and the plea- 
sant tinkle of a cow bell far away in the broad meadow. 
While there I took a sketch, wherein I introduced the father 
of New England rivers, and the bald peak of Mount Lafay- 
ette, with the storm-inflicted scar upon its brow. A noble 
monument is yonder mountain to the memory of a noble 
man. 

While breakfasting at Littleton this morning, I came to the 
conclusion to leave my baggage and visit Franconia. I 
jumped into the stage, and after a very pleasant ride of seven- 
teen miles, found myself far into the Notch, in the midst of 
whose scenery I am to repose this night. I reached here in 
time to enjoy an early dinner with " mine host ;" after which I 
sallied forth to examine the wonders of the place, but I was 
so delighted with everything around that I did not take time 
to make a single sketch. I saw the Flume, and was aston- 
ished. It is a chasm in the mountain, thirty feet vi^ide, about 
a hundred deep, and some two thousand long, and as regular 
in its shape as if it had been cut by the hand of man. 
Bridging its centre is a rock of many tons weight, which one 
would suppose could only have been hurled there from the 
heavens. Through its centre flows a little brook, which 
soon passes over a succession of rocky slides, and which are 
almost as smooth and white as marble. And to cap the 
climax, this Flume is the centre of as perfect and holy a 
wilderness of scenery as could be imagined. 



THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN. 107 

I have also seen (what should be the pride of the Merri- 
mack, as it is upon one of its tributaries), the most superb 
pool in this whole country. The fall above it is not remark- 
able, but the forest-covered rocks on either side, and the pool 
itself are wonderfully fine. In the first place, you must remem- 
ber that the waters of this whole region are cold as ice, and 
very clear. The pool forms a circle of about one hundred feet 
in diameter, and is said to be fifty feet in depth. Owing to 
the fall it is the " head-quarters" of the trout, which are found 
all along the stream in great abundance. After I had com- 
pleted a drawing, I laid aside my pencils and fixed my fish- 
ing-rod. I threw the line only about two hours, and caught 
forty-five trout. Among them was the great-grandfather of 
all trout, as I thought at the time ; — he was seventeen inches 
long, and weighed two pounds and one ounce. 

The Old Man of the Mountain is another of the lions of 
this place. It is a cone-shaped mountain, (at the foot of 
which is a small lake,) upon whose top are some rocks, which 
have a resemblance to the profile of an old man. It is really 
a Very curious aff*air. There the old fellow stands, as he has 
stood perhaps for centuries, " looking the whole world in the 
face." I wonder if the thunder never frightens him ! and 
does the lightning play around his brow without making him 
wink? His business there, I suppose, is to protect the "un- 
granted lands" of New Hampshire, or keep Isaac Hill from 
lecturing the White Mountains on Locofocoism. He need 
not trouble himself as to the first fear, for they could not be 
deeded even to a bear ; and as to the second, I don't believe 
the mountains could ever be persuaded to vote for the acquisi- 
tion of new territory. Every plant upon them speaks of 
freedom, and in their fastnesses does the eagle find a home; 
their banner symbols are the stars and stripes, and therefore 
they must be Whigs. 

And another curiosity which everybody goes to see, is 



108 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

called the Basin — an exquisite little spot — fit for the abode 
of a very angel. It is formed in the solid rock, and though 
twenty feet in depth, you can see a sixpence at the bottom — 
it is so wonderfully clear. But the wild beauties of this 
Notch, unknown to fame, are charming beyond compare. 
There goes the midnight warning of the clock, and I must 
retire. Would that my dreams might be of yonder star, 
now beaming with intense brightness above the dark outline 
of the nearest mountain ! 

The distance from Knight's tavern to the western outlet of 
Franconia Notch is eight miles. The eastern stage was to 
pass through about the middle of the afternoon, so that after 
eating my breakfast I started on, intending to enjoy a walk 
between the mountains. With the conceptions and feelings 
that were with me then, I should have been willing to die, 
for I was very happy. Now as I sat upon a stone to sketch a 
mass of foliage, a litde red squirrel came within five feet of 
me, and commenced a terrible chattering, as if his lady-love 
had given him the "mitten," and he was blowing out against 
the whole female sex ; and now an old partridge with a score 
of children came tripping along the shadowy road, almost 
within my reach, and so fearless of my presence, that I 
would not have harmed one of them for a crown. Both of 
them were exceedingly simple pictures, and yet they afi'orded 
me a world of pleasure. I thought of the favorite haunts of 
these dear creatures, — the hollow tree, — the bed of dry 
leaves, — the cool spring, — the mossy yellow log, — the rocky 
ledges overgrown with moss, — the gurgling brooklet stealing 
through the trees, wdth its fairy water-falls in a green shadow 
and its spots of vivid sunlight, — and of a thousand other kin- 
dred gems in the wonderful gallery of Nature. And now 
as I walked onward, peering into the gloomy recesses of the 
forest on either side, or fixed my eyes upon the blue sky 
with a few white clouds floating in their glory, many of my 



THE BALD EAGLE. 109 

favorite songs were remembered, and in a style peculiarly 
my own, I poured them upon the air, which were answered by 
unnumbered mountain echoes. Nothing had they to do with 
the place or with each other, but like the pictures around me, 
they were a divine food for my soul — so that I was in the en- 
joyment of a heavenly feast. Now, as I looked through the 
opening trees, I saw an eagle floating above the summit of 
a mighty cliff, — now, with the speed of a falling star, descend- 
ing far into the leafy depths, and then, slowly but surely as- 
cending, until hidden from view by a passing cloud. Fly 
on, proud bird, glorious symbol of my country's freedom ! 
What a god-like life is thine ! Thou art the " sultan of the 
sky," and from thy craggy home forever lookest upon the 
abodes of man with indifl'erence and scorn. The war-whoop 
of the savage, the roar of artillery on the bloody battle-field, 
and the loud boom of the ocean cannon, have fallen upon 
thy ear, and thou hast listened, utterly heedless as to whom 
belonged the victory. What strength and power are in thy 
pinions ! traversing in an hour a wider space 

" Than yonder gallant ship, Math all her sails 
Wooing the winds, can cross from morn till eve !" 

When thy hunger-shriek echoes through the wilderness, with 
terror does the wild animal seek his den, for thy talons are 
of iron and thine eyes of fire. But what is thy message to 
the sun 1 Far, far into the zenith art thou gone, forever gone 
— emblem of a mighty hope that once was mine. 

My thoughts were upon the earth once more, and my feet 
upon a hill out of the woods, whence might be seen the long 
broad valley of the Amonoosack melting into that of the 
Connecticut. Long and intently did I gaze upon the land- 
scape, with its unnumbered farm-houses, reposing in the sun- 
light, and surmounted by pyramids of light-blue smoke ; and 
also upon the cattle grazing on a thousand hills. Presently 



110 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

I heard the rattling wheels of the stage-coach, — one more 
look over the charming valley, — and I was in my seat beside 
the coachman. 

In view of the foregoing and forthcoming facts, I cannot 
but conclude that I am a most lucky fellow. My ride from 
Franconia to Littleton was attended with this interesting cir- 
cumstance. A very pretty young lady, who was in the stage, 
found it necessary to change her seat to the outside on ac- 
count of the confinement within. Of course, I welcomed 
her to my side with unalloyed pleasure. The scenery was 
fine, but what does my reader suppose I cared for that, as 
I sat there talking in a most eloquent strain to my companion, 
with my right arm around her waist to keep her from falling? 
That conduct of mine may appear " shocking" to those who 
have " never travelled," but it was not only an act of polite- 
ness, but of absolute necessity. Neither, as my patient's 
smile told me, " was it bad to take." And how delightful 
it was to have her cling to me, and hear the beating of her 
heart, as the driver swung his whip and ran his horses down 
the hills ! Animal Magnetism is, indeed, a great invention — 
and I am a believer in it so far as the touch of a beautiful 
woman is concerned. 

Away, away — thoughts of the human world ! for I am en- 
tering into the heart of the White Mountains. Ah me ! how can 
I describe these glorious hierarchs of New England ! How 
solemnly do they raise their rugged peaks to Heaven ! Now, 
in token of their royalty, crowned with a diadem of clouds ; 
and now with every one of their cliffs gleaming in the sun- 
light like the pictures of a dream ! For ages have they held 
communion with the mysteries of the midnight sky. The 
earliest beams of the morning have bathed them in living 
light, and theirs, too, have been the kisses of departing day. 
Man and his empires have arisen and decayed ; but they have 
remained unchanged, a perpetual mockery. Upon their sum- 



THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. Ill 

mits Time has never claimed dominion. There, as of old, 
does the eagle teach her brood to fly, and there does the wild 
bear prowl after his prey. There do the waterfalls still leap 
and shout on their way to the dells below, even as when the 
tired Indian hunter, some hundred ages agone, bent him to 
quaff" the liquid element. There, still, does the rank grass 
rustle in the breeze, and the pine and cedar and hemlock 
take part in the howling of the gale. Upon man alone falls 
the heavy curse of time; Nature has never sinned, therefore 
is her glory immortal. 

As is well known, the highest of these mountains was 
christened after our beloved Washington, and with it, as with 
him, are associated the names of Jeff'erson, Madison and 
Adams. Its height is said to be six thousand and eight hun- 
dred feet above the sea, but owing to its situation in the cen- 
tre of a brotherhood of hills, it does not appear to be so grand 
an object as South Peak Mountain among the Catskills. Its 
summit, like most of its companions, is destitute of vegeta- 
tion, and therefore more desolate and monotonous. It is 
somewhat of an undertaking to ascend Mount Washington, 
though the trip is performed on horseback; but if the wea- 
ther is clear, the traveller will be well repaid for his labor. 
The painter will be pleased with the views he may command 
in ascending the route from Crawford's, which abounds in 
the wildest and most diversified charms of mountain scenery. 
But the prospect from the summit of Washington will mostly 
excite the soul of the poet. Not so much on account of 
what he will behold, but for the breathless feeling which will 
make him deem himself for a moment to be an angel or a 
God. And there, more than ever, if he is a Christian, will 
he desire to be alone, so as to anticipate the bliss of Heaven 
by a holy communication with the Invisible. 

I spent a night upon this mountain, and my first view of 
the prospect was at break of day, when, as Milton says, 



112 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 



and, 



' mom her rosy steps in the eastern clime 

Advancing, sow'd the earth with orient pearls," 



" Waked by the circling hours with rosy hand 
Unbarred the gates of light," 



or when, in the language of Shakspeare, 

" The gray-eyed morn smiled on the frowning night, 
Checkering the eastern clouds with streaks of light." 

Wonderfully vast and strangely indistinct and dreamy was 
the scene spread out on every side. To the west lay the 
superb Connecticut, with its fertile valley reposing in the 
gloom of night, while to the east, the ocean-bounded pros- 
pect, just bursting into the life of light, was faintly relieved 
by Winnipiseogee and Sebago lakes, and like rockets along 
the earth, wandered away the Merrimack, the Saco and the 
Androscoggin, to their ocean home, — the whole forming an 
epic landscape, such as we seldom behold excepting in our 
sleep. Heavens ! with what exquisite delight did I gaze 
upon the scene, as in the eyes of truth and fancy it expanded 
before my mind. Yonder, in one of a hundred villages, a 
young wife, with her first-born child at her side, was in the 
midst of her morning dream ; and there, the pilgrim of four- 
score years was lying on his couch in a fitful slumber, as 
the pains of age creeped through his frame. There, on the 
Atlantic shore, the fisherman in the sheltering bay, hoisted 
anchor and spread his sail for the sea; — and there the life- 
star of the lighthouse was extinguished, again at its stated 
time to appear with increased brilliancy. In reality, there 
was an ocean of mountains all around me; but in the dim 
light of the hour, and as I looked down upon them, it 
seemed to me that I stood in the centre of a plain, boundless 
as the universe ; and though I could not see ihem, I felt that 
I was in a region of spirits, and that the summit of the mount 



THE NOTCH VALLEY. 113 

was holy ground. But the morning was advancing, the 
rising mists obscured my vision, and, as I did not wish to 
have that day-break picture dissipated from my mind, I 
mounted my faithful horse, and with a solemn awe at heart 
descended the mountain. 

The ride from the Notch House, kept by the celebrated 
hunter named Crawford, through the Notch Valley some 
twelve miles long, is magnificent. First is the Gap itself, only 
some twenty feet in width, and overhung with jagged rocks 
of wondrous height; and then the tiny spring, alive with 
trout, which gives birth to the untamed Saco. A few more 
downward steps, and you are in full view of a bluff, whose 
storm-scathed brow seems to prop the very heavens, — its 
gray shadows strongly contrasting with the deep blue sky. 
A little further on, and you find yourself in an amphitheatre 
of mountains, whose summits and sides are barren and deso- 
late, where the storms of a thousand years have exhausted their 
fury. Downward still and further on, and you come to the 
memorable Wiley cottage, whose inhabitants perished in the 
avalanche or slide of 1826. The storm had been unceasing 
for some days upon the surrounding country, and the dwell- 
ers of the cottage were startled at midnight by the falling 
earth. They fled — and were buried in an instant, and up 
to the present time, only one of the seven bodies has ever 

been found. As it then stood, the dwelling still stands 

a monument of mysterious escape, as well as of the incom- 
prehensible decrees of Providence. The Saco river, which 
runs through the valley, was lifted from its original bed, and 
forced into a new channel. The whole place, which but a 
short time before was a " beautiful and verdant opening 
amid the surrounding rudeness and deep shadow, is now like 
a stretch of desolate sea-shore after a tempest, — full of wrecks, 
buried in sand and rocks, crushed and ground to atoms." 

After witnessing so much of the grand and gloomy, I was 
8 



114 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

glad to retrace my course to a less dreary country My last 
view of Mount Washington and its lordly companions was 
the most beautiful. The sun was near his setting, and the 
whole sky was covered with a glow of richest yellow and 
crimson, while to the eastward hung two immense copper- 
colored clouds just touching the outline of the mountains; 
and through the hazy atmosphere, the mountains themselves 
looked cloud-like, but with more of the bright blue of heaven 
upon them. In the extensive middle distance faded away 
wood-crowned hills ; and in the foreground reposed an exqui- 
site little farm, with the husbandman's happy abode, almost 
hidden by groups of elms ; and the simple figures, only a 
few paces off, of a little girl sitting on a stone, with a bunch 
of summer flowers in her hand, and a basket of berries 
and a dog at her side. One more yearning gaze upon the 
dear old mountains, and I resumed my pilgrimage towards the 
north. 



CHAPTER X. 

iMontreal. 

Montreal, June. 

With some things in Montreal I have been pleased, but 
with others a good deal dissatisfied. The appearance which 
it presents from every point of view is imposing in the ex- 
treme. Its numerous church towers and extensive blocks 
of stores, its extensive shipping and noble stone wharves, 
combine to give one an idea of great wealth and liberality. 
On first riding to my hotel I was struck with the cleanliness 
of its streets, and, on being shown to my room, I was con- 
vinced that the hotel itself (Donegana's) was of the first 
water. The city abounds in public buildings, which are 
usually built of limestone, and it extends along the river St, 
Lawrence about three miles. The streets, in the older parts 
of the town, are as picturesque and narrow as those of the 
more ancient cities of the Old World, but in the modern por- 
tions they are quite regular and comfortable. The princi- 
pal street is Notre Dame, which always presents, on a plea- 
sant day, a gay, and elegant appearance. 

Generally speaking, its churches are below mediocrity, 
but it has one architectural lion worth mentioning — the 
Catholic cathedral. It faces a square called Place (VArmes, 
and presents an imposing appearance. It is built of stone, 



116 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

and said to be after the Norman-Gothic order of architecture ; 
but I should think it a mixture of a dozen dis-orders. Its 
extreme length is 225 feet, breadth 135, and its height 72 feet. 
It also has two towers, which measure 220 feet to their sum- 
mit. The windows in these towers are closed with coarse 
boards, and yet it cost $400,000. The ground floor is covered 
with pews capable of seating 8000 people, while the aisles 
and galleries might hold 2000 more. The galleries are sup- 
ported by wooden pillars, which reminded me of a New York 
barber's sign. The interior has a naked and doleful appear- 
ance ; the large window above the altar is wretchedly painted ;. 
the altar itself is loaded with gew-gaws ; and of the many 
paintings which meet you in every direction there is not one 
for which I would pay ten dollars. The organ resembles a 
bird-house, and the music perpetrated there every day in the 
year would jar upon the ear of even an American Indian. 
And when it is remembered that this church was built by 
one of the wealthiest corporations on the Continent, it is utter- 
ly impossible to entertain a feeling of charity towards the 
founders thereof. 

The population of Montreal is now estimated at forty 
thousand, one-half of whom are Roman Catholics, one 
fourth Protestants, and the remainder nothing in particular. 
By this statement it will be readily seen that the establish- 
ments of the Catholics must be the most abundant. Nun- 
neries are consequently quite numerous, some of them well 
endowed, and, to those who have a passion for such affairs, 
must be exceedingly interesting. 

But I wish to mention one or two additional specimens of 
architecture. The market of Montreal is built of stone, located 
near the river, and remarkably spacious and convenient in all 
its arrangements. It eclipses anything of the kind that we can 
boast of in the States. The only monument of any note in the 
city is a Doric column, surmounted with a statue, and erected 



MONTREAL. 117 

in honor of Lord Nelson. The entire column is seventy feet 
high, and gives an air of elegance to that portion of Notre 
Dame where it stands. On the four sides of the pedestal are 
pictorial representations, in alto relievo, representing Nelson 
in some of his memorable battles. It was erected by the 
British inhabitants of Montreal at a cost of near six thousand 
dollars. 

One of the most striking peculiarities of this city is 
the fact that everybody has to live, walk and sleep at the 
point of a bayonet. Military quarters are stationed in va- 
rious portions of the city, and soldiers meet you at every 
corner, marching to and fro, invariably puffed up with igno- 
rance and vanity. The last woman, I am sorry to say, who has 
become an outcast from society, attributes her misfortune to 
a soldier ; the officers, however, who rule these military slaves, 
are, generally, well educated and agreeable gentlemen. But 
these are not without their faults, and, if I might be allowed 
the expression, I would add, that they appear supremely ridi- 
culous whenever they march into a church, on the Sabbath, 
with their swords dangling between their legs, and looking 
down upon the praying congregation in all the " pomp and 
circumstance of war." 

The people whom you meet in the streets of Montreal 
seem to come from almost every nation in the world. Now 
it may be the immensely pompous Englishman, who repre- 
sents some wilderness district in Parliament ; and now it 
may be the cunning Scotchman, or a half-famished Irishman. 
Sometimes it is the speculating American, or the humble and 
industrious Jew ; the gay and polite Habitan, or a group of 
wandering Indians from the far north. The better class of 
Montreal people (so called by a fashionable world), are the 
British settlers, or, rather, the English population. Generally 
speaking, they are highly intelligent, and somewhat arbitrary 
in expressing their opinions ; but they entertain hospitable 



118 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

feelings towards strangers. They boast of their mother 
country, as if her glory and power were omnipotent; and an 
occasional individual may be found who will not scruple to 
insult an American if he happens to defend his own. In 
religion, they are generally Episcopalians ; they hate the 
Habitan, look with contempt upon the poor Irish, and address 
their brethren of Scotland with a patronizing air. They drink 
immense quantities of wine, and those who happen to be the 
illiterate members of the Provincial Parliament, think them- 
selves the greatest people on earth. 

The island upon which Montreal is located, is seventy 
miles in circumference, and was once (if not now), the pro- 
perty of an order of Catholic priesthood. In the rear of the 
city rises a noble hill, called Mount Royal, from which it 
derives its name.. The hill itself is thickly wooded; but the 
surrounding country is exceedingly fertile, and studded with 
elegant country-seats, and the rural abodes of the peasantry. 
A ride around the Mount, on a pleasant day, is one of the 
most delightful imaginable, commanding a view of Montreal 
and the St. Lawrence valley which is grand beyond compare. 

To appreciate the unique features of Montreal, it is neces- 
sary that you should be there on the Sabbath, the gala-day 
of the Catholics. Then it is that the peasantry flock into the 
city from all directions, and, when they are pouring into the 
huge cathedral by thousands, dressed in a thousand fantastic 
fashions, cracking their jokes, and laughing as they move 
along, the entire scene is apt to fill one with peculiar feelings. 
It was beautiful to look at ; but the thought struck me that I 
should hate to live in the shadow of that cathedral forever. 
But if you chance to take a walk in the suburbs, on a Sab- 
bath afternoon, you will notice much that cannot but aflbrd 
you real satisfaction. You will find almost every cottage a 
fit subject for a picture ; and the flocks of neatly-dressed, 
happy, and polite children playing along the roads, together 



MONTREAL. 119 

with frequent groups of sober men, sitting in a porch, and 
the occasional image of a beautiful girl, or contented mother 
leaning out of a window, — all these things, I say, constitute 
a charm which is not met with everywhere. But enough ; 
Montreal is a fine city, and I trust that it will yet be my for- 
tune to visit it again, and see more of its polished society. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Quebec. 

Quebec, Jime. 

I CAME from Montreal to this city in the day time, and, 
consequently, had an opportunity of examining this portion 
of the St. Lawrence. The river opposite Montreal runs at 
the rate of six miles per hour, and is two miles wide; it pre- 
serves this breadth for about sixty miles, and then expands 
into the beautiful and emerald-looking lake of St. Peter, 
after which it varies from one to five in width until it reaches 
Quebec, which is distant from Montreal one hundred and 
eighty miles. Above St. Peter the shores vary from five to 
fifteen feet in height, but below the lake they gradually 
become more elevated until they measure some three hundred 
feet in the vicinity of Quebec. The country between the 
two Canadian cities is well cultivated, and on either side may 
be seen a continued succession of rural cottages. 

Our steamer approached Quebec at the sunset hour, and 
I must say that I have never witnessed a more superb pros- 
pect than was presented by the lofty citadel city, the contract- 
ed St. Lawrence, the opposite headland called Point Levi, and 
the far distant land which I knew to be Cape Tourment. A 
stiff breeze was blowing at the time, and some twenty ships 
were sailing to and fro, while we had to make our way into port 



QUEBEC. 121 

by winding between and around some three hundred ships 
which were at anchor. 

I have seen much in this goodly city which has made a 
deep impression on my mind. The promontory called Cape 
Diamond upon which it stands, is formed by the junction of 
the St. Charles and St. Lawrence rivers, and rises to the 
height of three hundred and fifty feet above the water. The 
city is built from the water's edge along the base of the cliff, 
and from thence, in a circuitous manner, ascends to the very 
border of the citadel and ramparts. There is but one street 
leading from the lower to the upper town, and that is narrow 
and very steep, and the gateway is defended by a number of 
large cannon. The city is remarkably irregular, and, as 
many of the buildings are quite ancient, its appearance is pic- 
turesque and romantic. The fortifications cover an area of 
forty acres, and beneath them are many spacious and gloomy 
vaults for the reception of ammunition and stores during a 
time of war.— Receding into the interior, from the very brow 
of the fortress, are the plains of Abraham, which are covered 
with a rich green sod, and planted with unnumbered cannon. 
Their historical associations are numerous, and, as they would 
fill a chapter in themselves, I will refrain from dwelling upon 
them, at this time. 

The religious establishments of Quebec are quite numerous, 
and belong mostly to the Roman Catholics : like those of 
Montreal, they are quite ancient and well endowed ; but they 
did not interest me, and I am sure my description of them 
would not interest my reader. As a matter of course, I 
visited the French Cathedral. It seems to be as old as the 
hills, and yet all the windows of the principal tower are 
roughly boarded up. On entering the edifice, which is crowd- 
ed with gilded ornaments, I could not fix my eye upon a 
single object which suggested the idea of richness. The 
sculpture, the paintings, and even the gilding, are all without 



122 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

merit; and what greatly added to my disgust was, that I 
could not obtain a civil answer from a single one of the many 
boorish men and boys who were fussing about the church. 
In the front of an extensive promenade, just below the 
citadel, stands the monument erected to the memory of Mont- 
calm and Wolfe. The gentleman who contributed the largest 
sum for its erection was Lord Dalhousie. It is a handsome 
obelisk, and was designed by a military gentleman named 
Young. The principal inscription on the column is charac- 
teristic of the English nation, and is what a shrewd Yankee 
would call " a pufF of Dalhousie" — even though it be 
chiselled in Latin. The annoying effect of this inscription, 
however, is counteracted by another, which is also in Latin, 
and very beautiful. It was composed by J. C. Fisher, Esq., 
founder of the Quebec Gazette, and is as follows : 
" Military virtue gave them a common death, 

History a common fame, 

Posterity a common monument." 

The Golden dog is another curiosity which will attract the 
attention of the visitor to Quebec. It is the figure of a dog, 
rudely sculptured in relievo, and richly gilded, which stands 
above the entrance of an ancient house, which was built by 
M. Phillibert, a merchant of this city, in the time of M. 
Bigot, the last intendant under the French government. 
Connected with it is the following curious story, which I 
copy from an old record : — 

" M. Phillibert and the intendant were on bad terms, but, 
under the system then existing, the merchant knew that it 
was in vain for him to seek redress in the colony, and deter- 
mining at some future period to prefer his complaint in 
France, he contented himself with placing the figure of a 
sleeping dog, in front of his house, with the following lines 
beneath it, in allusion to his situation with his powerful 
enemy : 



QUEBEC. 123 

" Je suis un cliien qui ronge I'os, 
En le rongeant je prends mon repos — 
Un terme viendra qui n'est pas venu 
Que je mordrai qui m'aura mordu." 

" This allegorical language was, however, too plain for 
Mons. Bigot to misunderstand it. A man so powerful easily 
found an instrument to avenge the insult, and M. Phillibert 
received, as the reward of his verse, the sword of an officer 
of the garrison through his back, when descending the Lower 
Town Hill. The murderer was permitted to leave the colony- 
unmolested, and was transferred to a regiment stationed in the 
East Indies. Thither he was pursued by a brother of the de- 
ceased, who had first sought him in Canada, when he arrived 
here to settle his brother's affairs. The parties, it is related, 
met in the public street of Pondicherry, drew their swords, 
and, after a severe conflict, the assassin met a more honora- 
ble fate than his crime deserved, and died by the hand of his 
antagonist." 

I know not that there are any other curiosities in Quebec ' 
really worth mentioning, and I willingly turn to its natural 
attractions. The fortress itself is undoubtedly one of, if not 
the most formidable on the continent; but I fell in love with 
it on account of its observatory features. To ramble over 
its commanding ramparts, without knowing, or caring to know 
a solitary individual, has been to me an agreeable and unique 
source of entertainment. At one time I leaned upon the ba- 
lustrade, and looked down upon the Lower Town. It was 
near the hour of noon. Horses and carriages, men, women 
and children, were hurrying through the narrow streets, and 
ships were in the docks discharging their cargoes. I looked 
down upon all these things at a single glance, and yet the 
only noise I heard was a hum of business. Even the loud 
clear shout of the sailor, as he tugged away at the mast-head 
of his ship, could hardly be heard stealing iipioard on the 



124 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

air. Doves were flying about, high above the roofs ; but they 
were so far below my point of vision, that I could not hear 
the beating of their wings. 

But the finest prospect that I have enjoyed in this city was 
from the summit of the Signal House, which looms above 
the citadel. I visited this spot just as the sun was setting, 
and everything was enveloped in a golden atmosphere. Be- 
neath me lay the city, gradually lulling itself to repose; on 
the west, far as the eye could reach, faded away the valley 
of the upper St. Lawrence ; towards the north, winding its 
way between high and well-cullivated hills, was the river St. 
Charles ; towards the eastward, rolling onwards, in its sub- 
limity like an ocean, across the continent, was the flood of the 
lower St. Lawrence, whitened by more than a hundred sails ; 
and towards the south reposed a picturesque country of hills 
and dales, beyond which 1 could just discern some of the 
mountain peaks of my own dear " Father Land." Strange and 
beautiful beyond compare was the entire panorama, and how 
was its influence upon me deepened, as a strain of martial 
music broke upon the silent air, and then melted into my 
very heart! I knew not whence it came, or who were the 
musicians, but I " blessed them unaware," and as my vision 
again wandered over the far-off" hills, I was quite happy. 

The population of Quebec is estimated at thirty thousand, 
and the variety is as great as in Montreal. A large propor- 
tion of the people whom you see parading the streets are 
soldiers, and chief among them I would mention the Scotch 
Highlanders, who are a noble set of men, and dress in hand- 
some style. 

Quebec, upon the whole, is a rem.arkable place, and well 
worth visiting. The environs of the city are also interesting ; 
and a ride to the Falls of Montmorency, seven miles down 
the river, and back again by an interior road, will abundantly 
repay the tourist for all the trouble and expense to which he 
may be subjected. 



CHAPTER XII. 

A sail down the St. Lawrence — Sword-fish chasing a whale. 

Tadousac, June. 

I HAVE not visited Canada for the purpose of examining 
her cities, and studying the character of her people, but solely 
with a view of hunting up some new scenery, and having a 
little sport in the way of salmon fishing. I am writing this 
chapter at the mouth of probably the most remarkable river 
in North America. But before entering upon a description 
of my sojourn here, it is meet, I ween, that I should give 
you an account of my journey down the St. Lawrence. 

On reaching Quebec, I was informed that there was no re- 
gular mode of conveyance down the great river, and that I 
should have to take passage in a transient ship or schooner, 
which would land me at my desired haven. This intelli- 
gence had a tendency to dampen my spirits, and I had to 
content myself with sauntering about the citadel city. Among 
the places I visited was the fish market, where it was my 
good fortune to find a small smack which had brought a load 
of fresh salmon to market, and was on the point of return- 
ing to the Saguenay for another cargo. In less than thirty 
minutes after I saw him, I had struck a bargain with the 
skipper, transferred my luggage on board the smack, and 
was on my way to a region which was to me unknown. 



126 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

We hoisted sail at twelve o'clock, and were favored by a 
stiff westerly breeze. Everything, in fact, connected with 
the voyage was beautifully accidental, and I had " a glorious 
time." In the first place, our craft was just the thing-^- 
schooner-rigged, a fast sailer, and perfectly safe. The skip- 
per — named Belland — was a warm-hearted and intelligent 
Frenchman, whose entire crew consisted of one boy. The 
day was superb, and the scenery of the river appeared to me 
more like the work of enchantment than nature. 

The appearance of Quebec, from the eastward, is impos- 
ing in the extreme. Standing as it does upon a lofty bluff, 
its massive ramparts and tin-covered roofs, domes, and 
cupolas suggest the idea of immense power and opulence. 
Just below the city, the St. Lawrence spreads out to the 
width of three or four miles, while from the margin of either 
shore fades aAvay a continued succession of hills, which vary 
from five hundred to fifteen hundred feet in height. Those 
upon the north shore are the highest, and both sides of the 
river, for a distance of some twenty miles below the city, 
are plentifully sprinkled with the white cottages of the Cana- 
dian peasantry. As you proceed, however, the river gradually 
widens, the hills upon the north shore become more lofty, 
reaching the elevation of two thousand feet ; and, while you 
only occasionally discover a farm house upon their summits, 
the southern shore continues to bear the appearance of a 
settled country, where the spire of a Catholic church is fre- 
quently seen loomiim above a cluster of rural residences. In 
descending the river, the first pictorial feature which attracts 
attention is the Fall of Montmorency, pouring the waters of 
a noble tributary immediately into the St. Lawrence. Just 
below this fall the river is divided by the island of Orleans, 
which measures about twenty miles in length, and five in 
breadth. It is partly covered with forest, and partly cultivated ; 
and, though the shores are rather low, it contains a number 



BEAUTIFUL ISLANDS. 127 

of points which are a hundred feet high. At the eastern termi- 
nation of this island is the parish of St. Lawrent, a remark- 
ably tidy French village, whose inhabitants are said to be as 
simple in their manners, as they are virtuous, and ignorant of 
the world at large. On a smaller island, which lies some thirty 
miles below Quebec, and directly opposite a noble cape called 
Tourment, is located the quarantine station for the shipping of 
the river ; and when I passed this spot, I counted no less than 
forty-five ships at anchor, nearly all of which were freighted 
with foreign paupers, who were then dying of the ship fever, 
at the rate of one hundred and fifty individuals per day. 
I might here mention that the vessels usually seen on this part 
of the St. Lawrence are merchant ships and brigs, which are 
chiefly and extensively employed in the lumber and timber 
trade. Another island in this portion of the St. Lawrence, 
which attracts attention from its peculiar sylvan beauty, is 
called Goose Island, and owned by a sisterhood of Nuns, who 
have cultivated it extensively. The eastern portion of it is 
covered with forest; the channels on either side are not far 
from ten miles wide, and it is distant from Quebec about 
fifty miles. 

We landed here at sunset; and while my companions were 
building a watch-fire, and cooking a supper of fish, pork and 
onions, I amused myself by taking sundry observations. I 
found the vegetation of the island quite luxuriant, the common 
hard woods of the north prevailing, but its foundation seemed 
to be composed of two distinct species ^. slate stone. Both 
varieties were of the finest grain, and while one was of a 
rich Indian red, the other was a deep blue. This portion of 
the St. Lawrence is a good deal blocked up by extensive 
reefs, composed of these identical slate stones, and at one 
point they extend so nearly across the river as to render ship 
navigation extremely dangerous. On subsequently examin*. 
ing the high hills on the north shore, I found them to be of 



128 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

solid granite, veined with red marble and extensive beds of 
quartz, and covered with a stunted forest of pine and hem- 
lock. But this geological dissertation is keeping my pen 
from describing a night picture which it was my privilege to 
witness on this beautiful but badly-named island, where, for 
sundry reasons, we concluded to spend the night. 

Our supper was ended, and the skipper had paid his last visit 
to the little craft, and, with his boy, had smoked himself to 
sleep by our camp fire. The sky was without a cloud, but 
studded with stars, and the breeze which kissed my cheek 
was soft and pleasant as the breath of one we dearly love. 
I had seated myself upon a rock, with my face turned towards 
the north, when my attention was attracted by a column of 
light, which shot upward to the zenith behind the distant 
mountains. The broad expanse of the St. Lawrence was 
without a ripple, and the mountains, together with the column 
of light and the unnumbered stars, were distinctly mirrored 
in its bosom. While looking upon this scene, the idea struck 
me that the moon was about to rise, but I soon saw a crim- 
som glow stealing up the sky, and knew that I was looking 
upon the fantastic performances of the Northern Lights. 
Broad, and of the purest white, were the many rays which 
shot upward from behind the mountains, and at equal dis- 
tances, between the horizon and the zenith, were displayed 
four arches of a purple hue, the uppermost one melting im- 
perceptibly in the deep blue sky. On again turning my eyes 
upward, I discovered that the columns and arches had all 
disappeared, and that the entire sky was covered with a 
crimson color, which resembled a lake of liquid fire, tossed 
into innumerable waves. Strange were my feelings as I 
looked upon this scene, and thought of the unknown wilder- 
ness before me, and of the Being whose ways are past finding 
out, and who holdeth the entire world, with its cities, moun- 
tains, rivers, and boundless wildernesses, in the hollow of 



A WHALE STORY. 129 

His hand. Long and intently did I gaze upon this wonder 
of the North ; and at the moment it was fading away, a wild 
swan passed over my head, sailing towards Hudson's Bay, 
and as his lonely song echoed along the silent air, 1 retraced 
my steps to the watch-fire and was soon a dreamer. 

That portion of the St. Lawrence extending between Goose 
Island and the Saguenay is about twenty miles wide. The 
spnng tides T-is^e and fa^^^^^ feet; the water 

is salt, but clear and cold, and the channel very deep. Here 
it was that I first saw the black seal, the white porpoise, 
and the black whale. But speaking of whales, reminds me 
of " a whaling" fish story. A short distance above the Sa- 
guenay river, there shoots out into the St. Lawrence, to the 
distance of about eight miles, a broad sand bank, which greatly 
endangers the navigation. In descending the great river, 
we had to double this cape, and it was at this place that I 
first saw a whale. The fellow had been pursued by a sword- 
fish, and when we discovered him, his head was turned 
towards the beach, and he was moving with great rapidity, 
occasionally performing a most fearful leap, and uttering a 
sound that resembled the bellowing of a thousand bulls. The 
whale must have been forty feet long, and his enemy nearly 
twenty; and as they hurried on their course with great speed, 
the sight was, indeed, terrible. Frantic with rage and pain, 
it so happened that the more unwieldy individual forgot his 
bearings, and in a very few minutes he was floundering 
about on the sand bar, in about ten feet of water, when the 
rascally sword immediately beat a retreat. After a while, 
however, the whale concluded to rest himself, but as the 
tide was going out, his intentions were soon changed, and 
he began to roll himself about, and slap the water with his 
tail for the purpose of getting clear. His efibrts, in a short 
time, proved successful, and when we last saw him, he was 
9 



130 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

in the deepest part of the river, moving rapidly towards the 
gulf, and spouting up the water, as if congratulating himself 
upon his narrow escape. 

In about two hours after witnessing this incident, our boat 
was moored at the mouth of the Saguenay ; and of the com- 
paratively unknown wilderness which this stream waters, 
my readers will find some information in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Saguenay River — Storm picture — The Hudson's Bay Company — 
Eminent merchant — The Mountaineer Indians — Tadousac — Ruin of 
a Jesuit establishment. 

Tadousac, July. 

About one hundred and fifty miles north of the St. Law- 
rence, and on one of the trails leading to Hudson's Bay, lies 
a beautiful lake called St. John. It is about forty miles long, 
and surrounded with a heavily timbered, and rather level 
country. Its inlets are numerous, and twelve of them are 
regular rivers. Its waters are clear, and abound in a great 
variety of uncommonly fine fish. The principal outlet to this 
lake is the Saguenay River, which takes a southerly direction, 
and empties into the St. Lawrence. It is the largest tributary 
of the great river, and unquestionably one of the most re- 
markable on the continent. Its original Indian name was 
Chicoutimi, signifying deep water; but the early Jesuit mis- 
sionaries, who have scattered their Saint-anic names over 
this entire country, thought proper to give it the name which 
it now bears, and the roundabout interpretation of which is, 
Nose of the sack. This name suggests to the world that the 
nose of St. John must have been a very long nose, and may 
be looked upon as a unique specimen of French poetry. 

The scenery of the Saguenay is wild and romantic to an 
uncommon degree. The first half of its course averages half 



132 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

a mile in width, and runs through an untrodden wilderness 
of pine and spruce-covered hills ; it abounds in waterfalls 
and rapids, and is only navigable for the Indian canoe. A 
few miles below the most southern fall on the river, is located 
the village of Chicoutimi, where an extensive lumber business 
is transacted, and the Hudson's Bay Company have an im- 
portant post. The village has an ancient appearance, and 
contains about five hundred inhabitants, chiefly Canadian 
French. The only curiosity in the place is a rude Catholic 
church, which is said to have been built by Jesuit missiona- 
ries upwards of one hundred years ago. It occupies the cen- 
tre of a grassy lawn, surrounded with shrubbery, backed by 
a cluster of wood-crowned hills, and commands a fine pros- 
pect, not only of the Saguenay, but also of a spacious bay, 
into which there empties a noble mountain stream, now 
known as Chicoutimi River. In the belfry of this vene- 
rable church hangs a clear-toned bell, with an inscription 
upon it which the learning of Canada (with all its learned 
and unnumbered priests,) has not yet been able to translate 
or expound. But, great as is the mystery of this inscription, 
it is less'mysterious to my mind than are the motives of the 
Romish Church in planting the cross in the remotest corners 
of the earth, as well as in the mightiest of cities. 

About ten miles south of Chicoutimi, there recedes from 
the west bank of the Saguenay, to the distance of ten miles, 
a beautiful expanse of water called Grand Bay. The ori- 
ginal name of this bay was " Ha, Ha," descriptive of the 
surprise which the French experienced when they first en- 
tered it, supposing that it was the Saguenay, until their 
shallop grounded on the north-western shore. At the head 
thereof is another settlement, similar to Chicoutimi. Between 
these two places the Saguenay is rather shallow, (when com- 
pared with the remainder of its course,) and varies in width 
from two and a half to three miles. The tides of the ocean 



THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 133 

are observable as far north as Chicoutimi, and this entire sec- 
tion of the river is navigable for ships of the largest class. 

That portion of the Saguenay extending from Grand Bay- 
to the St. Lawrence, a distance of sixty miles, is greatly dis- 
tinguished for its wild and picturesque scenery. I know not 
that I can better portray to my reader's mind the peculiarity 
of this river, than by the following method. Imagine, for a 
moment, an extensive country of rocky and thinly-clad moun- 
tains, suddenly separated by some convulsion of nature, so 
as to form an almost bottomless chasm, varying from one to 
two miles in width ; and then imagine this chasm suddenly 
half-filled with water, and that the moss of centuries has soft- 
ened the rugged walls on either side, and you will have a 
pretty accurate idea of the Saguenay. The shores of this 
river are composed principally of granite, and every bend 
presents you with an imposing blulF, the majority of which 
are, eight hundred feet high, and many of them upwards of 
fifteen hundred. And, generally speaking, these towering 
bulwarks are not content to loom perpendicularly into the air, 
but they must needs bend over, as if to look at their own sav- 
age features reflected in the deep. Ay, and that word deep 
but tells the simple truth ; for the flood that rolls beneath is 
black and cold as the bottomless pit. To speak without a 
figure, and from actual measurement, I can state that many 
portions of the Saguenay are one thousand feet deep ; and 
the shallowest parts not much less than one liundred. In 
many places, too, the water is as deep five feet from the rocky 
barriers as it is in the centre of the stream. The feelings 
which filled my breast, and the thoughts which oppressed my 
brain, as I paddled by these places in my canoe, were allied 
to those which almost overwhelmed me when I first looked 
upward from below the fall to the mighty flood of Niagara. 
Awful beyond expression, I can assure you, is the sensation 
which one experiences in sailing along the Saguenay, to raise 



134 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

his eye heavenward, and behold hanging, directly over his 
head, a mass of granite, apparently ready to totter and fall, 
and weighing, perhaps, a million tons. Terrible and sublime, 
beyond the imagery of the most daring poet, are these cliffs; 
and while they proclaim the omnipotent power of God, they, 
at the same time, whisper into the ear of man that he is but 
as the moth which flutters in the noontide air. And yet, is it 
not enough to fill the heart of man with holy pride and un- 
bounded love, to remember that the soul within him shall 
have but commenced its existence, when all the mountains 
of the world shall have been consumed as a scroll ? 

It is to the Saguenay that I am indebted for one of the 
most imposing storm pictures that I ever witnessed. It had 
been a most oppressive day, and, as I was passing up the 
river at a late hour in the afternoon, a sudden gust of wind 
came rushing down the stream, causing my Indian companion 
to bow, as if in prayer, and then to urge our frail canoe towards 
a little rocky island, upon which we immediately landed. 
Soon as we had surmounted our refuge, the sky was over- 
cast with a pall of blackness, which completely enveloped 
the cliffs on either side, and gave the roaring waters a death- 
like hue. Then broke forth, from above our heads, the 
heavy roar of thunder, and as it gradually increased in com- 
pass, and became more threatening and impetuous, its volleys 
were answered by a thousand echoes, which seemed to have 
been startled from every crag in the wilderness, while flashes 
of the most vivid lightning were constantly illuminating the 
gloomy storm-made cavern which appeared before us. Down 
upon his knees again fell my poor Indian comrade, and, 
while I sat by his side, trembling with terror, the thought 
actually flew into my mind that I was on the point of passing 
the narrow gateway leading to hell. Soon, however, the 
wind ceased to blow, the thunder to roar, and the lightning 
to flash; and, in less than one hour after its commencement 



BEAUTIES OF THE SAGUENAY. 135 



the storm had subsided, and that portion of the Saguenay 
was glowing beneath the crimson rays of the setting sun. 

From what I have written, my reader may be impressed 
with the idea that this river is incapable of yielding pleasur- 
able sensations.. Sail along its shores, on a pleasant day, 
when its cliffs are partly hidden in shadow, and covered with 
a gauze-like atmosphere, and they will fill your heart with 
images of beauty. Or, if you would enjoy a still greater 
variety, let your thoughts flow away upon the blue smoke 
which rises from an Indian encampment hidden in a dreamy- 
looking cove ; let your eye follow an eagle sweeping along 
his airy pathway near the summit of the cliffs, or glance 
across the watery plain, and see the silver salmon leaping by 
hundreds into the air for their insect food. Here, too, you 
may always discover a number of seals, bobbing their heads 
out of water, as if watching your every movement ; and, on 
the other hand, a drove of white porpoises, rolling their huge 
bodies along the waters, ever and anon spouting a shower of 
liquid diamonds into the air. O yes, manifold, indeed, and 
beautiful beyond compare, are the charms of the Saguenay. 

Although my description of this river has, thus far, been of 
a general character, I would not omit to mention, as perfect 
gems of scenery. Trinity Point, Eternity Cape, The Ta- 
bleau, and Le Tete du Boule. The peculiarities of these 
promontories are so well described by their very names, that 
I shall refrain from attempting a particular description of my 
own. 

The wilderness through which this river runs is of such 
a character that its shores can never be greatly changed in 
their external appearance. Only a small proportion of its soil 
can ever be brought under cultivation ; and, as its forests 
are a good deal stunted, its lumbering resources are far from 
being inexhaustible. The wealth which it contains is pro- 
bably of a mineral character; and if the reports I hear are 



136 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

correct, it abounds in iron ore. That it would yield an 
abundance of fine marble, I am certain ; for, in passing- up 
this stream, the observing eye will frequently fall upon a broad 
vein of an article as pure as alabaster. 

How is it, many people are led to inquire, that so little has 
been known of the Saguenay country, until quite recently ? 
The question is easily solved. It is a portion of that vast 
territory which has heretofore been under the partial jurisdic- 
tion of the Hudson's Bay Company. I say partially, for the 
right of that powerful monopoly, as I understand the matter, 
extended only to the protection and use of its wild animals; 
but it has endeavored to convince the would-be settler that 
it was the sole proprietor of the immense domain, and that 
he had no right to live thereon. Its Posts on the Saguenay 
and St. Lawrence^ so far as collecting furs is concerned, are 
a dead letter, and the journeys of its distinguished Governor 
are hereafter to be confined to the extreme north. 

The man who deserves the most credit for encroaching 
upon the so-called possessions of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, and proving to the world that its power is not without 
limit, is William Price, Esq., of Quebec. All llie saw-mills 
located on the Saguenay and the lovi^er St. Lawrence were 
established by him, and are now conducted at his expense. He 
gives employment to some two or three thousand men, and 
sends to England annually about one hundred ship loads of 
lumber, in the shape of deals. He is a thorough-going busi- 
ness man, and, did I not know the fact to be otherwise, I 
should set him down (with regard to his enterprise), as a full- 
blooded native of the Union. Many of the ships alluded to 
ascend the Saguenay to obtain lumber, as far as Chicou- 
timi, and it struck me as singularly paradoxical to see ships 
winding up that river whose legitimate home would seem to 
be the broad ocean. The current of the Saguenay flows, in 
some places, at the rate of seven miles per hour, but when 



THE MOUNTAINEER INDIANS. 1 37 

there is any wind at all, it blows quite heavily directly from 
the north or south, so that, with the assistance of the tide, 
the upward bound ships or brigs manage to get along without 
much difficulty. The only steamboat which navigates this 
river is the Pocahontas, and is the property of Mr. Price. 
She is commanded by a gentleman who understands his 
business; and I can assure the lovers of scenery everywhere 
that a sail up the Saguenay, in this steamer, would be an 
event they could not easily forget. For the benefit of sum- 
mer-tourists, I would here mention the fact, that, for about 
three months in the year, a Quebec steamer makes an occa- 
sional trip to the mouth of the Saguenay, by way of the river 
Du Loup, which is on the Canadian route to Halifax. 

In speaking of the Saguenay, I must not omit to mention 
its original proprietors, a tribe of Indians, who are known 
as the Mountaineers. Of course it is the duty of my pen to 
record the fact that, where once flourished a large nation of 
brave and heroic warriors, there now exists a litde band of 
about one hundred families. Judging from what I have heard 
and seen, the Mountaineers were once the very flower of this 
northern wilderness, even as the Chippewas were once the 
glory of the Lake Superior region. The Mountaineers of 
the present day are sufficiently educated to speak a smatter- 
ing of French; but they know nothing of the true God, and 
are as poor in spirit as they are indigent with regard to the 
necessaries of life. The men of this nation are rather short, 
but well-formed ; and the women are beautiful. They are 
proud in spirit, intelligent, and kind-hearted ; and many of 
them, it is pleasant to know, are no longer the victims of the 
baneful "fire-water." For this blessing they are indebted to 
the Romish priesthood, which fact I record with great plea- 
sure. The Mountaineers are a particularly honest people, 
and great friends to the stranger white man. They are also 
distinguished for their expertness in hunting, and take pleas- 



/• 



138 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

ure in recounting the exploits of their forefathers. And their 
language, according to a Catholic missionary, Pierre de Roche, 
is one of the oldest and purest Indian languages on the con- 
tinent. It abounds in Latin words, and is capable of being 
regularly constructed and translated. The qualities, in fine, 
which make the history of this people interesting, are mani- 
fold ; and it is sad to think of the rapidity with which they 
are withering away, even as the leaves of a premature au- 
tumn. 

But it is time that I should give you a brief description of 
Tadousac, where I have been spending a few days, and 
whence I date my chapters. The meaning of that word is 
a French corruption of the Indian word Saguenay. It is situ- 
ated directly at the mouth of the Saguenay, and commands 
a fine prospect of that river, as well as of the St. Lawrence, 
which, at this point, is nearly thirty miles in width. Imme- 
diately at the base of the hill upon which the hamlet stands, is 
a beautiful bay, hemmed in with mountains of solid rock. The 
place is composed of houses belonging to an Indian trading- 
post, and another dwelling, occupied by a worthy Scotchman, 
named Ovington,, who is a pilot by profession. The door 
of my friend's cabin is always op6n to the admission of the 
tourist, and if others who may chance to stop here are as 
kindly treated as I was, they will be disposed to thank their 
stars. In front of the trading-post are planted a few cannon, 
and directly beside them, at the present time, is a small In- 
dian encampment. In a rock-bound bay, about half a mile 
north of my temporary residence, is an extensive lumbering 
establishment, belonging to William Price. This spot is the 
principal port of the Saguenay, and the one where belongs 
the Pocahontas steamboat. About a dozen paces from the 
table, where I am now writing, is the ruin of a Jesuit reli- 
gious establishment, which is considered the great curiosity of 
this region. The appearance of the ruin is not imposing, as 



AN ANCIENT RUIN. 139 

you can discover nothing but the foundations upon which the 
ancient edifice rested; but it is confidently afiirmed that upon 
this spot once stood the first stone and mortar building ever 
erected on the continent of North America. And this state- 
ment I am not disposed to question, for from the very centre 
of the ruin has grown a cluster of pine trees, which must 
have been exposed to the wintry blasts of at least two hun- 
dred years. The fate, and the very names of those who first 
pitched their tents in this wilderness, and here erected an altar 
to the God of their fathers, are alike unknown. Who, who 
can tell what shall be on the morrow? 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The salmon — Several adventures. 

Tadousac, July. 
I INTEND to devote the present chapter to the acknowledged 
king of all the finny tribes, the lithe, wild and beautiful sal- 
mon. He pays an annual visit to all the tributaries of the 
St. Lawrence lying between Quebec and Bic Island, (where 
commences the Gulf of St. Lawrence,) but he is most abun- 
dant on the north shore, and in those streams which are be- 
yond the jurisdiction of civilization. He usually makes his 
first appearance about the twentieth of May, and continues 
in season for two months. Nearly all the streams in this re- 
gion abound in waterfalls, but those are seldom found which 
the salmon does not surmount in his " excelsior" pilgrimage ; 
and the stories related of his leaps are truly wonderful. It 
is not often that he is found, man bound at the head of the 
streams he may have ascended; but when thus found and 
captured, his flesh is white, skin black, and his form, " long, 
lank, and lean as is the ribbed sea-sand." His weight is 
commonly about fifteen pounds, but he is sometimes taken 
weighing full forty pounds. The salmon is an important 
article of export from this region, and is also extensively used 
by the Indians. The common mode for taking them is with 
a stationary net, which is set just on the margin of the river, 



SALMON FISHING. 141 



at low water. It is customary with the salmon to ascend the 
St. Lawrence as near the shore as possible, and their running 
time is when the tide is high ; the consequence is, that they 
enter the net at one tide, and are taken out at another ; and 
it is frequently the case, that upwards of three hundred are 
taken at one time. The Indian mode for taking them is with 
the spear, by torchlight. Two Indians generally enter a ca- 
noe, and while one paddles it noiselessly along, the other 
holds forth the light, (which attracts the attention of the fish, 
and causes them to approach their enemy,} and pierces them 
with the cruel spear. This mode of taking the salmon is to 
be deprecated; but the savage must live, and possesses no 
other means for catching them. It is but seldom that the In- 
dian takes more than a dozen during a single night, for he 
cannot afford to waste the bounties which he receives from 
Nature. For preserving the salmon, the Canadians have 
three modes : — First, by putting them in salt for three days, 
and then smoking them; secondly, by regularly salting them 
down as you would mackerel ; and, thirdly, by boiling and 
then pickling them in vinegar. The Indians smoke them ; 
but only to a limited extent. 

I must now give you some account of my experience in 
the way of salmon-fishing with the fly, of which glorious 
sport I have recently had an abundance. If, however, I 
should indite a number of episodes, you will please re- 
member that " it is my way," and that I deem it a privilege 
of the angler to be as wayward in his discourse as are the 
channels of his favorite mountain streams. 

My first salmon expedition of the season was to the St. 
Margaret River. I had two companions with me; one, an 
accomplished fly-fisher of Quebec, and the other, the princi- 
pal man of Tadousac, a lumber manufacturer. We went in 
a gig-boat belonging to the latter, and, having started at nine 
o'clock, we reached our place of destination by twelve. We 



142 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

found the river uncommonly high, and a little rily. We made 
a desperate effort, however, and threw the line about three 
hours, capturing four salmon, only one of which it was my 
privilege to take. He was a handsome fellow, weighing seven- 
teen pounds, and in good condition; he afforded my com- 
panions a good deal of fun, and placed me in a peculiar situ- 
ation. He had taken the hook when I was wading in swift 
water up to my middle, and soon as he discovered his predi- 
cament, he made a sudden wheel, and started down the stream. 
My rod bent nearly double, and I saw that I must allow him 
all the line he wanted ; and having only three hundred feet 
on my reel, I found it necessary to follow him with all speed. 
In doing so, I lost my footing, and was swept by the current 
against a pile of logs ; meantime my reel was in the water, 
and whizzing away at a tremendous rate. The log upon 
which I depended happened to be in a balancing condition, 
and, when I attempted to surmount it, it plunged into the cur- 
rent, and floated down the stream, having your humble serv- 
ant astride of one end, and clinging to it with all his might. 
Onward went the salmon, the log, and the fisherman. Finally 
the log found its way into an eddy of the river, and, while 
it was swinging about, as if out of mere deviltry, I left it, and 
fortunately reached the shore. My life having been spared, 
I was more anxious than ever to take the life of the salmon 
which had caused my ducking, and so I held aloft the rod, 
and continued down the stream, over an immense number of 
logs and rocks, which seemed to have been placed there for 
my especial botheration. On coming in sight of my fish, I 
found him in still water, with his belly turned upward, and 
completely drowned. I immediately drew him on a sand- 
bank near by, and, while engaged in the reasonable employ- 
ment of drying my clothes, my brother fishermen came up 
to congratulate me upon my success, but laughing, in the 
mean time, most heartily. The lumber merchant said that 



SALMON FISHING ADVENTURES. 143 

the log I had been riding belonged to him, and it was his in- 
tention to charge me one shilling for my passage from the 
rift where I had hooked the salmon, to the spot where I had 
landed him, which was in full view of the Saguenay; and 
my Quebec friend remarked, that he knew the people of Yan- 
kee-land had a queer way of doing things, but he was not 
acquainted with their peculiar mode of taking salmon. As 
may be readily imagined, we retraced our steps back to the 
log shanty where we had stopped, and, having carefully 
stowed away our salmon, we laid aside our fishing tackle, 
and made arrangements for a little sport of another kind. 

The hamlet of St. Margaret, where we spent the night, 
contains some eight or ten log shantees, which are occupied 
by about twenty families, composed of Canadians, Indians, 
and half-breeds. They obtain their living by " driving" logs, 
and are as happy as they are ignorant. Anxious to see what 
we could of society among this people, we sent forth a mani- 
festo, calling upon the citizens generally to attend a dance at 
the cabin of a certain man whom we had engaged to give the 
party, at our expense. Punctual to the appointed hour, the 
assembly came together. Many of the men did not take the 
trouble even to wash their hands, or to put on a coat before 
coming to the party; but the women were neatly dressed 
with blue and scarlet petticoats, over which were displayed 
night-gowns of white cotton. The fiddler was an Indian, 
and the dancing hall (some twelve feet square), was lighted 
with a wooden lamp, supplied with seal oil. The dance 
was without any particular method ; and, when a gentleman 
wished to trip the light fantastic toe he had only to station 
himself on the floor, when one of his friends would select his 
partner, and lead her up for his acceptance. The conse- 
quence was, that, if a man wished to dance with any particu- 
lar lady, he was obliged to make a previous arrangement 
with his leading-up friend. The fiddler not only furnished 



A 



144 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

all the music, but also performed a goodly portion of the danc- 
ing, — fiddling and dancing at the same time. The supper 
was laid on the table at ten o'clock, and consisted principally 
of dried beaver tail, and cariboo meat, fried and boiled sal- 
mon, (which was cooked out of doors, near the entrance to 
the cabin,) rye bread, maple molasses, and tea. 

The party broke up at twelve o'clock, when we retired to 
the cabin, where we had secured lodgings, and it is an actual 
fact that our sleeping room on that night was occupied, not 
only by ourselves, but by two women, one man, and four 
children, (divided into three beds,) all members of the same 
family with whom we had succeeded in obtaining accommo- 
dations. On the following morning we rose at an early hour, 
and again tried our luck at salmon fishing, but only killed a 
few trout, whereupon we boarded our gig, and started down 
the romantic Saguenay, telling stories and singing songs. 
^Another river, in this region, which affords good salmon 
fishing, is the Esquemain. It empties into the St. Lawrence, 
about twenty miles east of Saguenay. It is a cold, clear and 
rapid stream, abounding in rapids and deep pools. At its 
mouth is located a saw-mill, but its water-works are so 
managed as not to interfere with the salmon. The fish of 
this stream ascend to a great distance, and, though rather 
small, are exceedingly abundant. The best fishing in the 
river is at the foot of the water-fall, which forms a sheet of 
foam, about one mile above the mouth. My Quebec friend 
accompanied me to this place, and though we only threw 
the fly about six hours, (three in the evening and three in the 
morning,) yet we killed thirteen salmon, without losing 
a single line, and with the loss of only three flies. Owing 
to the bushy shores of the stream, we were compelled to 
fish standing upon boulders, located in its centre; and when- 
ever we hooked a fish, there was no alternative but to plunge 
into the current, and trust to fortune. For some unaccount- 



SALMON FISHING ADVENTURES. 145 

able reason, (of course, it could not have been our fault,) we 
lost more than half of those we hooked. But it was worth 
a moderate fortune to see the magnificent leaps which the 
fish performed, not only when they took the fly, but when 
they attempted to escape. There was not one individual that 
did not give us a race of at least half a mile. The largest 
taken, during this expedition, was killed by ray companion, 
and caused more trouble than all his other prizes. Not only 
did the fellow attempt to clear himself by stemming the foam 
of a rapid, and rubbing his nose against a rock, to break the 
hook, but he also swept himself completely round a large 
boulder, poked his head into a net, and ran, with the speed 
of lightning to the extreme end of his line. It took my 
friend forty minutes to land this salmon, and I assure you 
he was particularly pleased when he found that his fish 
weighed one pound more than the largest I had taken. The 
fact was our rods were almost precisely alike, in length and 
strength, and as two countries were represented in our per- 
sons, the strife between us was quite desperate. I will ac- 
knowledge that the Canada gentleman took the largest 
salmon, but the States angler took them in the greatest num- 
ber. Notwithstanding all the fine sport that we enjoyed on 
the Esquemain, I am compelled to state that it was more 
than counterbalanced by the sufi*erings we endured from the 
black fly and musquetoe. The black fly is about half as large 
as the common house fly, and, though it bites you only 
in the day time, they are as abundant in the air as the sand 
upon the sea shore, and venomous to an uncommon degree. 
The musquetoe of this region is an uncommonly gaunt, long- 
legged, and hungry creature, and his howl is peculiarly horri- 
ble. We had been almost devoured by the black flies, 
during the afternoon, and as soon as darkness came, we 
secured a couple of beds in a Frenchman's house, and, as 
we tumbled in, congratulated ourselves upon a little com- 
10 



\ 



146 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

fortable repose. It was an exceedingly sultry night, and though 
we were both in a complete fever, from the fly poison circu- 
lating in our veins, the heat excelled the fever, and our bodies 
were literally in a melting condition. We endeavored to 
find relief by lying upon the bare floor, with no covering but 
a single sheet, and this arrangement might have answered, 
had it not been for the flood of musquetoes which poured into 
the room, as one of us happened to open a window to obtain 
fresh air. Every spot on our bodies which the flies had left 
untouched, was immediately settled upbn by these devils in 
miniature. They pierced the very sheets that covered us, 
and sucked away at our blood without any mercy. Unwil- 
ling to depart this life without one effort more to save it, we 
then dressed ourselves, and sauntered into the open air. We 
made our way towards a pile of lumber, near the saw-mill, 
and without a particle of covering, endeavored to obtain a 
little sleep; but the insect hounds soon found us out, and we 
bolted for another place. Our course now lay towards the 
rude bridge which spans the Esquemain, just above the mill. 
Our intentions at the time, though not uttered aloud,.! verily 
believe were of a fearful character. On reaching the bridge, 
however, a refreshing breeze sprung up, and we enjoyed a 
brief respite from our savage enemies. We now congratu- 
lated each other upon our good fortune, and had just con- 
cluded to be quite happy, when we discovered a number of 
Indians on the river, spearing salmon by torch light, and, as 
it was after midnight, and the heathens were spearing on our 
fishing ground, we mournfully concluded that our morning's 
sport was at an end. But while in the very midst of this 
agreeable mood of mind, a lot of skylarking musquetoes dis- 
covered our retreat, and we were again besieged. We now 
endeavored to find relief on board the boat which had brought 
us from the Saguenay; and here it was that we spent the 
two last hours of that most miserable night. Though not 



UNPLEASANT PREDICAMENT. 147 

exactly in a fitting condition to throw the fly with any degree 
of comfort, we made an effort after salmon in the morning, 
and succeeded in killing a portion of the thirteen already 
mentioned. That we enjoyed the good breakfast which we 
had prepared for our especial benetlt, and that we departed 
froiTi_Esquemain as soon as possible, are facts which I con- W 
sider self-evident. 

The mouth of the Saguenay, as I have before remarked, 
is completely hemmed in with barriers of solid rock, and, 
when the tide is flowing in from one of these points, first 
rate salmon fishing may occasionally be enjoyed. I have 
frequently had the pleasure of throwing the fly on the point in 
question, and, on one occasion, was so carried away with the 
sport, that I took no notice of the rising tide. It was near the 
sunset hour, and on preparing for my departure home, I dis- 
covered that I was completely surrounded with water, and 
that my situation was momently becoming more dangerous. 
The water was bitter cold, and turbulent, and the channel 
which separated me from the main shore was upwards of a 
hundred yards wide. I was more than half a mile from the 
nearest dwelling, and could not see a single sail on the Sa- 
guenay, or the still broader St. Lawrence, excepting a solitary 
ship, which was ten leagues away. My predicament, I as- 
sure you, was not to be envied. I could not entertain the 
idea that I should lose my life ; and, though I felt myself to 
be in danger, my sensations were supremely ridiculous. 
But something, I was persuaded, must be done, and that im- 
mediately ; and so I commenced throwing off my clothes 
for a final eff'ort to save my life. I had stripped ofl" every- 
thing but shirt and pantaloons, and to a flock of crows, which 
were cawing above my head, I must have presented an inte- 
resting picture. I thought of the famous swimming adventures 
of Leander and Lord Byron, and, also, of the inconveniences 
of being drowned, (as Charles Lamb did of being hanged,) 



148 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

but just as I was about to make the important plunge, an 
Indian in his canoe came gliding around a neighboring point, 
and I was rescued, together with one salmon and some dozen 
pounds of trout. 
But I have not finished my story yet. On the night follow- 

^ ing this incident I retired to bed in rather a sober mood, for 
I could not banish the recollection of my narrow escape from 
a ducking, if not from a watery grave. The consequence 
was, that, in my dreams, I underwent ten times as much 
mental suffering as I had actually endured. I dreamed that, 
in scaling the rocks which lead to the point alluded to, I lost 
my footing, and fell into the water. While in this condition, 
drinking more salt water than I wanted, floundering about, 
like a sick porpoise, gasping for breath, and uttering a most 
doleful moan, 1 was suddenly awakened, and found my good 
landlord at my side, tapping me on the shoulder, for the pur- 
pose of summoning me — from the back of the nightmare 
I had been riding. 

As I may not have another opportunitj^ of alluding to 
this portion of the Saguenay, and the rocky point already 
alluded to, I must give my reader another, and a remarkable 
incident connected with them. Some years ago, the Hudson's 
Bay Company had in its employ, as clerk at Tadousac, 
an intelligent and amiable young man, whose name was 

^ McCray. For some unaccountable reason, he became de- 
ranged ; and, on one occasion, a cold and stormy winter 
night, he took it into his head to cross the Saguenay upon the 
floating ice, which was coming down at the time. When first 
discovered, he was half way across the stream, and making 
frightful leaps of ten and fifteen feet from one block of ice 
to another. His friends followed in close pursuit, with a 
boat, as soon as possible, but on reaching the opposite shore, 
the unhappy man was not to be found. On the day follow- 
ing, however, certain people, who were hunting for him in 



FISH OF THE SAGUENAY. 149 

the woods, discovered him, perched in the crotch of a tree, 
almost frozen to death, and senseless as a clod of the valley. 
He was taken home, the circulation of his blood restored, 
and he is now an inmate of the Quebec Lunatic Asylum. 
The mind of this worthy man was thought to be of a high 
order ; and it is certain that he possessed an extensive know- 
ledge of botany and geology. From remarks that escaped 
him subsequently to the wonderful feat he performed, it is 
supposed that, at the time of starting across the river, he was 
thinking of a particular book which he wished to obtain, and 
had been told could be purchased at Quebec, towards which 
place (unattainable by land), he had set his face. It is worthy 
of record that poor McCray is the only man that ever crossed 
the deep and angry Saguenay on the ice, as it is never solidly 
frozen ; and it is almost certain that the feat he performed 
can never be again repeated. 

But to return to my piscatorial remarks. Next to the sal- 
mon, the finest sporting fish of this region is the trout. Of 
these I have seen two species, — the salmon and the common 
trout. Of the former, I believe there is but one variety, but 
that is an exceedingly fine fish for sport, or the table, and is 
found in the lower tributaries of the St. Lawrence, from five 
to fifteen pounds. They are taken chiefly in the salt water, 
and possess a flavor which the trout of onr western lakes do 
not. Of the common trout, I have seen at least six varieties, 
differing, however, only in color ; for some are almost en- 
tirely white, others brown, some blue, some green, some 
black, and others yellow. These are taken everywhere in 
the St. Lawrence, and in all its tributaries. Those of the 
Saguenay are the largest, most abundant, and of the rarest 
quality. Upon the whole, I am inclined to set this river 
down as affording the finest trout-fishing that I have ever en- 
joyed, not even excepting that which I have experienced at 
the Falls of St. Mary, in Michigan. Almost every bay or 



150 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

cove in the Saguenay is crowded with trout, and, generally- 
speaking, the rocks upon which you have to stand afford an 
abundance of room to swing and drop the fly. In some of 
the coves alluded to, I have frequently taken a dozen two- 
pound trout during the single hour before sunset. Trout- 
lishing in this region possesses a charm which the angler sel- 
dom experiences in the rivers and lakes of the United States, 
which consists in his uncertainty as to the character of his 
prize before he has landed him, for it may be a common or 
salmon trout, or a regular-built salmon, as these fish all swim 
in the same water. It is reported of a celebrated angler of 
Quebec, that he once spent a week on the Esquemain, and 
captured within that time, seventy salmon, and upwards of a 
hundred trout. This is a very large story, but I have faith 
enough to believe it true. 

And now for a few remarks upon the fish of the lower St. 
LawTence generally. Cod are taken to a very great extent, 
and constitute an important article of commerce. Herring 
and mackerel are abundant; also the halibut and sardine. 
Shad are also taken, but not in suflicient quantities to export. 
The lobster, flounder and oyster are also found in this river, 
and, with a few unimportant exceptions, these are the only 
fish that flourish in this portion of the great river. The sea 
bass, the striped bass, the blue fish, and the black fish, for 
which I should suppose these waters perfectly adapted, are 
entirely unknown. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Seal hunting on the St. Lawrence — The white porpoise. 

Tadoiisac, July. 
Before breakfast this morning, I had the pleasure of tak- 
ing fifteen common trout, and the remainder of the day I 
devoted to seal hunting. This animal is found in great abun- 
dance in the St. Lawrence, and by the Indians, and a few 
white people, is extensively hunted. There are several vari- 
eties found in these waters, and the usual market price for 
the oil and skin is five dollars. They vary in size from four 
to eight feet, and are said to be good eating. Many people 
make them a principal article of food ; and while the Indians 
use their skins for many purposes, they also light their cabins 
with the oil. In sailing the river, they meet you at every 
turn, and when I first saw one, I thought I was looking upon 
a drowning man ; for they only raise their heads out of 
water, and thus sustain themselves with their feet, fins, pads, 
flippers, or whatever you may call them. They live upon 
fish, and in many of their habits, closely resemble the otter. 
Their paws have five claws, joined together with a thick 
skin ; they somewhat resemble the dog, and have a bearded 
snout like a cat, large bright eyes, and long sharp teeth. 
They are a noisy animal, and when a number of them are 
sunning themselves upon the sand, the screams they utter are 



152 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

doleful in the extreme — somewhat resembling the cry of chil- 
dren. 

My first seal expedition was performed in company with 
two professional hunters. We started from shore with a 
yawl and a canoe, and made our course for a certain spot 
in the St. Lawrence, where the waters of the Saguenay and 
the flood tide came together, and caused a terrible commotion. 
The canoe led the way, occupied by one man, who was sup- 
plied with a harpoon, and a long line ; while the other hunter 
and myself came up in the rear, for the purpose of rescuing 
the harpooner in case an accident should happen, and also for 
the purpose of shipping the plunder. The seal seems to de- 
light in frequenting the deepest water and more turbulent 
whirlpools, and the object of using a canoe is to steal upon 
him in the most successful manner. We had not floated 
about the eddy more than twenty minutes, before a large 
black animal made his appearance, about ten feet from the 
canoe ; but, just as he was on the point of diving, the hunter 
threw his harpoon, and gave him the line, to which was at- 
tached a buoy. The poor creature floundered about at a 
great rate, dove as far as he could towards the bottom, and 
then leaped entirely out of the water ; but the cruel spear 
would not loosen its hold. Finally, after making every effort 
to escape, and tinging the surrounding water with a crimson 
hue, he gasped for breath a few times, and sunk to the end 
of the rope, quite dead. We then pulled him to the side of 
the boat, and with a gaff-hook secured him therein, and the 
hunt was renewed. In this manner did my companions 
capture no less than three seals before the hour of noon. 

On one occasion, I noticed quite a large number of seals 
sunning themselves upon a certain sandy point; and as I felt 
an " itching palm" to obtain, with my own hands, the mate- 
rial for a winter cap, I spent the afternoon in the enjoyment 
of a " shooting frolic, all alone." I borrowed a rifle of one 



SEAL HUNTING. 153 

of my friends, and, having passed over to the sandy point in 
a canoe, I secreted myself in the midst of some rocks, and 
awaited the game. I had remained quiet but a short time, 
when a huge black seal made its appearance, scrambling up 
the beach, where he kept a sharp look-out for anything that 
might do him harm. I admired the apparent intelligence of 
the creature, as he dragged his clumsy and legless body along 
the ground, and almost regretted that he was doomed to die. 
True to my ridiculous nature, however, I finally concluded 
to leave him unmolested for the present, hoping that he would 
soon be accompanied by one of his fellow-seals, and that I 
should have a chance of killing a pair. I was not disap- 
pointed, and you will therefore please consider me in full 
view of one of the finest marks imaginable, and in the atti- 
tude of firing. Crack went the rifle, but my shot had only 
ttie effect of temporarily rousing the animals, and I proceeded 
to reload my gun, wondering at the cause of my missing, and 
feeling somewhat dissatisfied with matters and things in ge- 
neral. Again was it my privilege to fire, and I saw a stick 
fly into the air about thirty feet on the left of my game. 
The animals were, of course, not at all injured, but just 
enough frightened to turn their faces towards the water, into 
which they shortly plunged, and entirely disappeared. I re- 
turned to my lodgings, honestly told my story, and was 
laughed at for my pains and bad luck. It so happened, how- 
ever, that the owner of the gun imagined that something 
might be the matter with the thing, and, on examination, 
found that one of the sights had been accidentally knocked 
from its original position, which circumstance had been the 
" cause of my anguish ;" and, though it restored to me my 
good name as a marksman, it afl^orded me but little satisfac- 
tion. 

But, that my paper about seals may be worth sealing, I will 
give you the history of an incident which illustrates the sa- 



154 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

gacity of an Indian in killing- his game. A Mik-mak hunter, 
with i.is family, had reached the shore of the St. Lawrence, 
hungry, and short of ammunition. On a large sand-bank 
which lay before him, at a time when the tide was low, he 
discovered an immense number of seals. He waited for the 
tide to How, and again to ebb, and as soon as the sand ap- 
peared above the water, he hastened to the dry point in his 
canoe, carrying only a hatchet as a weapon. On this spot 
he immediately dug a hole, into which he crept, and covered 
himself with a blanket. He then commenced uttering a cry 
in imitation of the seal, and in a short time had collected 
about him a very large number of those animals. He waited 
patiently for the tide to retire so far that the animals would have 
to travel at least a mile by land before reaching the water; and, 
when the wished for moment arrived, he suddenly fell upon 
the affrighted multitude, and with his tomahawk, succeeded in 
slaughtering upwards of one hundred. To many, this may 
appear to be an improbable story, but when it is remembered 
that this amphibious animal is an exceedingly slow land tra- 
veller, it will be readily believed. The manner in which our 
hunter managed to save his game, was to tie them together 
with bark, and when the tide rose tow them to the main 
shore. 

Since I have brought my reader upon the waters of the St. 
Lawrence, I will not permit him to go ashore until I have 
given him an account of another inhabitant of the deep which 
is found in very great abundance, not only in this river, but 
also in the Saguenay. I allude to the white porpoise. The 
shape of this creature is similar to that of the whale, though of 
a pure white color, and usually only about fifteen feet in 
length. They are exceedingly fat, and yield an oil of the 
best quality, while the skin is capable of being turned into 
durable leather. They are extensively used as an article of 
food; the fins and tail, when pickled, are considered a deli- 



THE WHITE PORPOISE. 155 

cacy; and their value is about twenty-five dollars a-piece. 
They are far from being a shy fish ; and, when sailing about 
our vessel in large numbers, as is often the case, they present 
a beautiful and unique appearance. For taking this fish, the 
people of this region have two methods. The first is to use 
a boat with a white bottom, behind which the fisherman 
tows a small wooden porpoise, which is painted a dark slate 
color, in imitation of the young of the species. With these 
lures the porpoise is often brought into the immediate vicinity 
of the harpoon, which is invariably thrown with fatal preci- 
sion. In this manner an expert man will often take three 
or four fine prizes in a day. Another mode for taking these 
creatures is by fencing them in. It appears that it is cus- 
tomary for this fish to wander over the s^nd bars, at high 
water, for the purpose of feeding. Profiting by this know- 
ledge, the fishermen enclose one of the sandy reefs with poles 
set about three feet apart, and sometimes covering a square 
mile. They leave an appropriate opening for the porpoises, 
which are sure to enter at high water, and, owing to their 
timidity, they are kept confined by the slender barrier until 
the tide ebbs, when they are destroyed in great numbers with 
very litde trouble. It is reported that a party of fishermen, 
some ninety miles above the Saguenay, once took one hun- 
dred and forty porpoises at one tide ; and it is also asserted 
that in dividing the spoil the fishermen had a very bitter 
quarrel, since which time, as the story goes, not a single 
porpoise has ever been taken on the shoal in question. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

The Esquimaux Indians of Labrador. 

Tadousac, July. 

The vast region of country lying on the north shore of 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and extending to the eastward of 
the Saguenay as far as Newfoundland, is generally known 
under the name of Lahrador. It is an exceedingly wild and 
desolate region, and, excepting an occasional fishing hamlet 
or a missionary station belonging to the worthy Moravians, 
its only inhabitants are Indians. Of these the more famous 
tribes are the Red Indians, (now almost extinct,) the Hunting 
Indians, the Mic-Maks, and the Esquimaux. The latter na- 
tion is by far the most numerous, and it is said that their 
sway even extends to the coasts of Hudson's Bay. They 
are, at the same time, the wildest and most rude inhabitants 
of this wilderness, and, in appearance, as well as manners 
and customs, closely resemble the inhabitants of Greenland. 

During one of my nautical expeditions down the St. Law- 
rence, I chanced to be wind-bound for a couple of days at 
the mouth of the nameless river on the north shore, where 
I found a small encampment of Esquimaux Indians. The 
principal man of the party was exceedingly aged, and the 
only one who could convey his thoughts in any other lan- 
guage than his own. He had mingled much with the French 



THE ESQUIMAUX INDIANS. 157 

fur-traders of the north, and the French fishermen of the 
east, and possessed a smattering of their tongue. Seated by 
the side of this good old man, in his lodge, with a moose 
skin for a seat, a pack of miscellaneous furs to lean against, 
and a rude seal-oil torch suspended over my head, 1 spent 
many hours of one long-to-be-remembered night in question- 
ing him about his people. The substance of the information 
I then collected, it is now my purpose to record ; but it 
should be remembered that I speak of the nation at large, 
and not of any particular tribe. 

According to my informant, the extent of the Esquimaux 
nation is unknown, for they consider themselves as numerous 
as the waves of the sea. Much has been done to give them 
an education, and, though missionaries of the cross have 
dwelt among them for about a century, yet the majority of 
this people are, at the present time, in heathen darkness. 
The men are chiefly employed in hunting and fishing, and 
the domestic labor is all performed by the women. Their 
clothes are made in the rudest manner imaginable, and 
generally of the coarser skins which they secure in hunting. 
They believe in a Supreme Being, who has a dwelling-place 
in the earth, the air, and the ocean, and who is both good 
and evil ; and they also believe in the immortality of the soul, 
which they describe as similar to air, which they cannot 
feel. Their principal men are magicians and conjurors, dis- 
tinguished, as I infer from good reason, for their profligacy. 
Whenever a man is sick, they attribute the cause to the 
alleged fact that his soul has departed from his body, and he 
is looked upon with contempt and pity. The first man who 
came into the world sprang from the bosom of a beautiful 
valley ; in this valley he spent his infancy and childhood, 
feeding upon berries; and having, on a certain occasion, 
picked up a flower which drooped over one of his ac- 
customed paths, it immediately became changed into a girl 



1 58 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

with flowing hair, who became his playmate, and afterwards 
his wife, and was the mother of all living. They believe in 
a heaven and a hell, and consider that the road to the former 
is rugged and rocky, and that to the latter, level, and covered 
with grass. Their ideas of astronomy are peculiar, for they 
consider the sun, moon and stars as so many of their an- 
cestors, who have, for a great variety of reasons, been lifted 
to the skies, and become celestial bodies. In accounting for 
the two former, they relate that there was once a superb 
festival given by the Esquimaux, in a glorious snow-palace 
of the north, where were assembled all the young men and 
maidens of the land. Among them was a remarkably brave 
youth, who was in love with an exceedingly beautiful girl. 
She, however, did not reciprocate this attachment, and en- 
deavored, by all the means in her power, to escape from his 
caresses. To accomplish this end, she called upon the Great 
Spirit to give her a pair of wings ; and, having received them, 
she flew into the air, and became the moon. The youth also 
endeavored to obtain a pair of wings, and, after many months, 
finally succeeded ; and, on ascending to the sky, he became 
the sun. The moon, they say, has a dwelling-place in the 
west, and the sun another in the far east. They account for 
thunder and lightning by giving the story of two women who 
lived together in a wigwam, and, on one occasion, had a most 
furious battle. During the affray, the cabin tumbled in upon 
them, causing a tremendous noise, while the women were so 
angry that their eyes flashed fire. Rain, they say, comes 
from a river in the skies, which, from the great number of 
people who sometimes bathe in it, overflows its banks, and 
thus comes to the earth in showers. 

When one of their friends has departed this life, they take 
all his property and scatter it upon the ground, outside of his 
cabin, to be purified by the air ; but in the evening, they col- 
lect it together again, and bury it by the side of his grave. 



INDIAN TRADITIONS. 159 

They think it wrong for the men to mourn for their friends, 
and consider themselves defiled if they happen to touch the 
body of the deceased, and the individual who usually per- 
forms the office of undertaker, is considered unclean for many 
days after fulfilling his duty. The women do all the wailing 
and weeping, and during their mourning season, which cor- 
responds with the fame of the deceased, they abstain from 
food, wear their hair in great disorder, and refrain from every 
ablution. When a friendless man dies, his body is left upon 
the hills to decay, as if he had been a beast. When their 
children die, they bury the body of a dead dog in the same 
grave, that the child may have a guide in his pathway to an 
unknown land, to which they suppose all children go. 

Polygamy, as such, among the Esquimaux, is practised 
only to a limited extent; but married men and women are 
not over-scrupulous in their love affairs. Unmarried women, 
however, observe the rules of modesty with peculiar care, 
and the maiden who suffers herself to be betrayed, is looked 
upon with infamy. When a young man wishes to marry, 
he first settles the matter with his intended, and then, having 
asked and obtained her father's permission, he sends two old 
women to bring the lady to his lodge, and they are consi- 
dered one. The Esquimaux mother is fond of her children, 
and never chastises them for any offence. Children are 
taught to be dutiful to their parents, and until they marry 
they always continue under the paternal roof. 

The amusements of tlie Esquimaux do not differ, materi- 
ally, from those of the Indian tribes generally. The men are 
fond of dancing, playing ball, and a species of dice game, 
while the women know of no recreation but that of dancing 
and singing. 

And thus endelh my mite of information respecting one of 
the most extensive aboriginal nations of the far north. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Habitan of Canada. 

River du Loup, July. 

Since dating my last chapter from the Saguenay, I have 
completed my pilgrimage through Lower Canada; but before 
leaving the province, I will give you the result of my ob- 
servations respecting some of its people. These are divided 
into three classes — the descendants of the French colonists, 
commonly called " Habitans," the British settlers, and the 
Indian tribes. The " Habitans," of whom I am now to 
speak, are the most numerous, and so peculiar in their ap- 
pearance and manners, as to attract the particular attention of 
travellers. The men are usually tall and slender, of sinewy 
build, and with a dark-brown complexion ; the girls are black- 
eyed, and disposed to be beautiful, while the women are al- 
ways dumpy, but good-looking. Their dress is similar to 
that of the French peasantry ; the men wear the old-fashioned 
capof, on their heads every variety of fantastic caps and hats, 
and, on their feet, a moccason made of cow-hide ; the women 
wear jackets or mantelets, which are made of bright colors, 
and, on their heads, either a cap or straw hat, made in the 
gipsy-fashion. Occasionally, they make an effort to imitate 
the English in their dress, and, at such times, invariably ap- 
pear ridiculous. As a class they are devoted, principally, to 



THE HABITANS. 161 

agriculture ; but as their opportunities for obtaining instruc- 
tion are exceedingly limited, their knowledge of the art of 
husbandry is precisely what it was one hundred years ago. 
They seem to be entirely destitute of enterprise, and tread 
in the beaten steps of their fathers. They who live in the 
vicinity of Montreal and Quebec, generally supply those mar- 
kets with vegetables; but those who reside in the more ob- 
scure parts, seem to be quite satisfied if they can only ma- 
nage to raise enough off their farms for the purpose of carry- 
ing them through the year. They are partial to rye bread, 
and never consider it in a cooking condition until it has been 
soured by age; and their standard dish, which they make use 
of on all occasions, is a plain pea soup. The consequence is, 
the pea is extensively cultivated. You seldom find a farmer 
who is so poor as not to be able to sell from five to fifty 
bushels of wheat, and this article he appropriates to the same 
use that most people do their money. Their plough is dis- 
tinguished for its rudeness, and their farming implements, 
generally, would not be creditable even to a barbarous people. 
If an individual happens to have a stony field, the idea does 
not enter his head that he might build a fence with those very 
stones, and the consequence is, that he piles them in one im- 
mense heap, in the centre of the field, and draws his rails a 
distance, perhaps, of two miles. But with all their ignorance 
of agriculture, the inhabitants are sufiiciently careful to make 
their little farms yield them all the necessaries they require, 
particularly their clothing and shoes, their candles, soap, and 
sugar. There are but few professional mechanics among 
them, and the dwelling of the peasant is almost invariably 
the production of his own individual labor. Their houses 
are distinguished for pictorial beauty, always one story high, 
and, generally, neatly white-washed. Their cattle are small, 
and, owing to their neglect in feeding and protecting them, 
are exceedingly poor. Their horses are nothing but ponies, 
11 



162 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

but distinguished for their toughness. The Habitans are 
partial to the luxury of riding, and their common vehicle is 
a rough two-wheeled cart, and, occasionally, a calash. 

The establishment which I employed for travelling in the 
settled parts of Canada, was a fair specimen of the class. 
The cost of the horse (four feet and a half high), was twenty 
dollars, and the cart (made entirely of wood), was four dol- 
lars. — My coachman was a Habitan, and, in driving over a 
hilly road, on a certain day, I had a fine opportunity for 
studying the conflicting traits of character which distinguish 
the race. Whenever he wanted his horse to go fast, he 
pulled the reins with all his might, and continued to utter a 
succession of horrible yells. He invariably ran his animal 
up the hill, and deliberately walked him down. When angry 
at his unofl^ending beast, he showered upon his head a variety 
of oaths, which might be translated as follows : infernal hog, 
black toad, and hellish dog ; and yet when the animal was 
about to drop to the ground from fatigue and heat, he would 
caress him, and do everything in his power to restore the 
animal, and ease his own conscience. I first employed this 
man to bring me to this place, and said nothing about con- 
tinuing my journey. On ascertaining, however, that I was 
bound further down the St. Lawrence, he volunteered his 
services, and I employed him, although he had informed his 
wife that he would positively return on the night of the day 
he left her. I retained him in my employ for two days, and 
was particularly struck with the anxiety he manifested con- 
cerning the disappointment of his wife. He alluded to the 
impropriety of his conduct at least a dozen times, and usually 
added, " But you give me plenty money (it was only six dol- 
lars for taking me forty miles), and 1 will buy som,ething 
pretty for my ivife, which will make her very glad — I guess 
she won't be sorry." I asked him what it was that he in- 
tended to purchase, and his answer was, " some ribbon, a 



THE HABITANS. 163 

pair of scissors, with some needles, and a calico dress." Who 
can deny that it is pleasant to study the sunshine of the 
human heart " by which we live ?" 

Tiie Habitans profess the Roman Catholic religion with 
much zeal. Among them, I believe, may be found many 
worthy Christians; but they manifest their religious devo- 
tion in many peculiar ways. They are fond of social inter- 
course, and spend a goodly portion of their time in visiting 
each other. They reluctantly establish themselves beyond the 
sound of a chapel bell, and I positively believe that they spend 
more than half of their lime in performing mass and horse 
racing. The Sabbath is their great holiday, and always de- 
cidedly the noisiest day in the week. Their general deport- 
ment, however, is inoffensive, and often highly praiseworthy. 
They are seldom guilty of committing atrocious crimes, and 
do not often engage in the personal conflicts which are so 
prevalent in the United States. They treat all men with 
kindness, and in their language and manners, are remarkably 
polite. The little girl, playing with her doll in her father's 
door, would think her conduct highly improper should she 
omit to drop you a courtesy as you passed along ; and even 
the rude boy, when playing ball, or driving his team, inva- 
riably takes off his hat to salute the traveller. 

The Habitans are particularly fond of the river St. Law- 
rence, and their settlements extend from Montreal, about two 
hundred miles along the river on the north shore, and perhaps 
three hundred and fifty miles on the southern shore. Their 
principal roads run parallel with the river; are about half a 
mile apart, and, generally, completely lined with rural dwell- 
ings. 

The political opinions of the Habitans are extremely liberal, 
and not much in accordance with the spirit of Canadian in- 
stitutions. They hate England by nature, and the advice of 
their priesthood, and scruple not to declare themselves ac- 



164 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

tually in love with what they call the American Government. 
They complain that Englishmen treat them as if they were 
slaves, while the people of the United States always hail them 
as brothers. They are an unlettered race, but believe that 
their condition would be much happier were they the subjects 
of a President, instead of a Q-ueen. That is a matter I con- 
sider questionable. 



(I 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Grand Portage into New Brunswick — Lake Timiscouta — The Mada- 
waska river. 

f On the Madawaska, July. 

The traveller who would go from Quebec to Halifax by 
the recently established government route, will have to take 
a steamer for one hundred and twenty miles down the great 
river, and cross the Grand Portage road, which commences at 
the river, Du Loup, and extends to lake Timiscouta, a distance 
of thirty-six miles. 

With the village of Du Loup 1 was well pleased. It con- 
tains about twelve hundred inhabitants, and a more general 
mixture of English, Scotch and French than is usually found 
in the smaller towns of Canada. The place contains an 
Episcopal church, which must be looked upon as a curiosity 
in this Roman Catholic country, for it is the only one, I 
believe, found eastward of Quebec. The situation of the vil- 
lage is romantic to an uncommon degree. It commands an 
extensive prospect of the St. Lawrence, which is here up- 
wards of twenty miles wide, and bounded, on the opposite 
side, by a multitude of rugged mountains. The river is stud- 
ded with islands; and ships are constantly passing hither 
and thither over the broad expanse ; and when, from their great 
distance, all these objects are constantly enveloped in a gauze- 



166 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

like atmosphere, there is a magic influence in the scenery. The 
principal attraction is a water-fall, about a mile in the rear 
of the village. At this point the waters of the rapid and 
beautiful Du Loup dance joyously over a rocky bed, until 
they reach a picturesque precipice of perhaps eighty or a hun- 
dred feet, over which they dash in a sheet of foam, and, after 
forming an extensive and shadowy pool, glide onward, 
through a pleasant meadow, until they mingle with the waters 
of the St. Lawrence. But, as I intend to take you over 
the Grand Portage, it is time that we should be oflT. The first 
ten miles of this road are dotted with the box-looking houses 
of the Canadian peasantry ; but the rest of the route leads you 
up mountains and down valleys as wild and desolate as when 
first created. The principal trees of the forest are pine, 
spruce and hemlock, and the foundation of the country seems 
to be granite. This region is watered by many sparkling 
streams, which contain trout in great abundance. The only 
curiosity on the road is of a geological character, and struck 
me as something remarkable. Crossing the road, and run- 
ning in a northerly direction, and extending to the width of 
about two miles, is a singular bed of granite boulders. The 
rocks are of every size and form, and while, from a portion 
of them, rises a scanty vegetation, other portions are destitute 
of even the common moss. In looking upon this region, the 
idea struck me that I was passing through the bed of what once 
was a mighty river, but whose fountains have become forever 
dry. This is only one, however, of the unnumbered wonders 
of the world which are constantly appearing to puzzle the 
philosophy of man. In passing over the Grand Portage, the 
traveller has to resort to a conveyance which presents a 
striking contrast with the usual national works of her lady- 
ship, the Queen. It is the same establishment which con- 
veys the Royal Mail from Quebec to Halifax, and consists 
of a common Canadian cart, a miserable Canadian pony, 



LAKE TIMISCOUTA. 167 

and a yet more miserable Canadian driver. Such is the way 
they order things in Canada, which, I fancy, is not exactly 
the way they do in France. The Grand Portage road itself 
is all that one could desire, and as there is a good deal of 
summer and winter travelling upon it, it is surprising that 
the Government cannot afford a more comfortable conveyance. 
But this recently " Disputed Territory," owing to nobody's 
fault but the actual settlers, seems to be destitute of every- 
thing desirable, and I know not but we ought to rejoice that 
Lord Ashburton concluded the late treaty in the manner he 
did. 

The eastern termination of the Grand Portage road is at 
Lake Timiscouta, where is located a pleasant hamlet of Cana- 
dians, and a picketed fort, which is now abandoned. The 
views from this spot are unique and exceedingly beautiful, 
particularly a western view of the lake, when glowing be- 
neath the rays of the setting sun. The Indian word Timis- 
couta signifies the winding water, and accurately describes 
the lake, which has a serpentine course, is twenty-four miles 
long, and from two to three wide. Excepting the cluster of 
houses already mentioned, there is not a single cabin on the 
whole lake, and the surrounding mountains, which are per- 
haps a thousand feet high, are ihe home of solitude and 
silence. The only vessels that navigate the Lake are Indian 
canoes, paddled by Canadians. Not only does the isolated 
settlers depend upon them for the transportation of provisions, 
but even the English nobleman, when travelling in this re- 
gion, finds it necessary to sit like a tailor in their slraw- 
covered bottoms. 

The only outlet to Lake Timiscouta is the Madawaska 
River, which is but a contraction of the same water, but re- 
duced to the width of a stone's throw, and leading to the St. 
John's, a distance of some forty miles. The meaning of 
Madawaska, as I am informed, is never frozen, and the river 



168 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

obtained this name from the fact that certain portions, on ac- 
count of the current, are never ice-bound. The scenery of 
the river is precisely similar to that of its parent lake, only 
that it is a little cultivated. The waters of both are clear, but 
not very deep or cold. They abound in fish, of which the 
common trout, the perch, and pickerel (not pike), are the 
more valuable varieties. 

The manner in which I sailed through Timiscouta and 
Madawaska, was exceedingly pleasant, if not peculiar and 
ridiculous. My canoe was manned by a couple of barba- 
rous Canadians, and while they occupied the extreme stern 
and bow, I was allowed the " largest liberty" in the body 
thereof. It was an exceedingly hot day when I passed 
through, and having stripped myself of nearly all my cloth- 
ing, I rolled about at my own sweet will, not only for the 
purpose of keeping cool, but that I might do a good business 
in the way of killing time. At one moment I was dipping 
my feet and hands in the water, humming a lightsome tune 
of yore, and anon sketching the portrait of a mountain or a 
group of trees. Now I lay flat upon my back, and while I 
watched the fantastic movements of the clouds, as they crossed 
the blue of heaven, I attended to the comforts of the inner 
man by sucking maple-sugar. Now I called upon the boat- 
men to sing me a song, and, while they complied with my 
request, I fixed myself in the poetical attitude of a Turk, 
and smoked a cigar. At one time, we halted at a mountain 
spring, to obtain a refreshing drink, and at another, the men 
pulled up to some rocky point, that I might have the plea- 
sure of throwing the fly. Thus vagabondizing, " pleasantly 
the days of Thalaba went by." 

My voyage down the Madawaska was not without a cha- 
racteristic incident. There was quite a fleet of canoes de- 
scending at the same time, some of them laden with women 
and babies, and some with furs, tin-kettles, and the knap- 



WILD ANIMALS. 169 

sacks of home-bound lumbermen. Two of the canoes were 
managed by a Canadian and a Scotchman, who seemed to 
cherish a deeply-rooted passion for racing. They paddled a 
number of heats, and as they were alternately beaten, they 
both, finally, became angry, and began to bet quite extrava- 
gantly. The conclusion of the whole matter was that they 
went ashore on a bushy point among the mountains, and 
settled their difficulty by a " private fight." They fought, 
" like brave men, long and well," and by the time one had a 
tooth knocked out of his head, and the other had nearly lost 
an eye, they separated, and quietly resumed their way. 
These were the only wild animals that I saw in the Mada- 
waska wilderness. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

The Acadians. 

Mouth of the Madawaska, July. 
At the junction of the river Madawaska and St. John, and 
extending for some miles down the latter, is a settlement of 
about three hundred Acadians. How these people came by 
the name they bear, I do not exactly understand, but of their 
history, I remember the following particulars. In the year 
1755, during the existence of the colonial difficulties between 
England and France, there existed, in a remote section of 
Nova Scotia, about fifteen thousand Acadians. Aristocratic 
French blood flowed in their veins, and they were a peaceful 
and industrious race of husbandmen. Even after the govern- 
ment of England had become established in Canada, they 
cherished a secret attachment for the laws of their native 
country. But this was only a feeling, and they continued in 
the peaceful cultivation of their lands. In process of time, 
however, three titled Englishmen, named Lawrence, Bos- 
cawan and Moysten, held a council and formed the hard- 
hearted determination of driving this people from their homes, 
and scattering them to the four quarters of the globe. Play- 
ing the part of friends, this brotherhood of conquerors and 
heroes sent word to the Acadians that they must all meet at 
a certain place, on business which deeply concerned their 



THE ACADIANS. 171 

welfare. Not dreaming of their impending fate, the poor 
Acadians met at the appointed place, and were there informed 
of the fact that their houses and lands were forfeited, and 
that they must leave the country to become wanderers in 
strange and distant lands. They sued -for mercy, but the 
iron yoke of a Christian nation was laid more heavily upon 
their necks, in answer to that prayer, and they were driven 
from home and country, and as they sailed from shore, or 
entered the wilderness, they saw in the distance, ascending to 
Heaven, the smoke of all they had loved and lost. Those 
who survived, found an asylum in the United States, and in 
the more remote portions of the British empire, and when, 
after the war, they were invited to return to their early homes, 
only thirteen hundred were known to be in existence. It is 
a remnant of this very people who, with their descendants, 
are now the owners of the Madawaska settlement, and it is 
in an Acadian dwelling that I am now penning this chapter. 
But owing to their many misfortunes, (I would speak in 
charity,) the Acadians have degenerated into a more ignorant 
and miserable people than are the Canadian French, whom 
they closely resemble in their appearance and customs. 
They believe the people of Canada to be a nation of knaves, 
and the people of Canada know them to be a half savage 
community. Worshipping a miserable priesthood, is their 
principal business ; drinking and cheating their neighbors, their 
principal amusement. They live by tilling the soil, and are 
content if they can barely make the provision of one year 
take them to the entrance of another. They are, at the same 
time, passionate lovers of money, and have brought the 
science of fleecing strangers to perfection. Some of them 
by a life of meanness have succeeded in accumulating a re- 
spectable property; but all the money they obtain is sys- 
tematically hoarded. It is reported of the principal man of 
this place that he has in his house, at the present moment, 



172 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

the sum of ten thousand dollars, in silver and gold, and yet 
this man's children are as ignorant of the alphabet as the 
cattle upon the hills. But with all their ignorance, the Aca- 
dians are a happy people, though it is the happiness of a mere 
animal nature. 

The scenery of this place, which does not seem to possess 
a name, is quite agreeable, but its attractive features are of an 
architectural character. The first is a block house, and the 
second a Catholic church. The block house occupies the 
summit of a commanding and rocky knoll, and was built at 
a cost of near five thousand dollars, for the purpose of de- 
fending this portion of New Brunswick, during the existence 
of the late boundary difficulty. The edifice is built of stone 
and timber, and may be described as a square box, placed 
upon another and large one in a triangular fashion ; the width 
may be thirty feet, and the height one hundred and fifty. It 
is well supplied with port holes, entered by a wooden flight 
of stairs, and covered with a tin roof. It contains two stores, 
besides a well-filled magazine. It is abundantly supplied 
with guns and cannon, and almost every variety of shot, shells 
and balls. It was once occupied by three military companies, 
(about all that it would possibly hold;) but the only human 
being who now has anything to do with it, is a worthy man, 
who officiates as keeper. The panorama which this fortress 
overlooks, is exceedingly picturesque, embracing both the 
valley of the Madawaska and that of St. John, which fade 
away amid a multitude of wild and uncultivated mountains. 
When I first looked upon this block house, it struck me as 
being a most ridiculous aff'air, but on further examination, I 
became convinced that it could not be taken without the 
shedding of much blood. 

Of the church to which I alluded, I have only to remark 
that it is a very small, and, apparently, a venerable structure, 
built of wood, painted yellow, with a red steeple. It is 



THE ACADIANS. 173 

pleasantly located, amid a cluster of rude cabins, on the mar- 
gin of the St. John, and in the immediate vicinity of a race 
course. It was my fate to spend a Sabbath in this Mada- 
waska settlement. As a matter of course, I attended church. 
The congregation was large, and composed entirely of Aca- 
dians ; decked out in the most ridiculous gew-gawish dresses 
imaginable. I noticed nothing extraordinary on the occa- 
sion, only that at the threshold of the church, was a kind of 
stand, where a woman was selling sausages and small beer. 
The services were read in Latin, and a sermon preached in 
French, which contained nothing but the most common- 
place advice, and that all of a secular character. At the con- 
clusion of the service, the male portion of the congregation 
gradually collected together on the neighboring green, and 
the afternoon was devoted to horse racing, the swiftest horse 
belonging to the loudest talker, and heaviest stake planter, 
and that man was — a disciple of the Pope, and the identical 
priest whom I had heard preach in the morning. It will be 
hard for you to believe this, but I have written the truth, as 
w^ell as my last line about the Acadian settlement on the 
Madawaska. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Sail down the Madawaska — The Falls of the St. John. 

Falls of the St. John, July. 

In coming to this place, from the North, the traveller finds 
it necessary to descend the river St. John in a canoe. The 
distance from Madawaska is thirty-six miles, and the day 
that I passed down was delightful in the extreme. My canoe 
was only about fifteen feet long, but my voyageur was an 
expert and faithful man, and we performed the trip without 
the slightest accident. 

The valley of this portion of the river is mountainous, and 
its immediate banks vary from fifteen to thirty feet in height. 
The water is very clear and rapid, but of a brownish color, 
and quite warm, varying in depth from three to thirty feet, 
and the width is about a quarter of a mile. That portion of 
the stream (say some seventy miles of its source), which 
belongs exclusively to the United States, runs through a fer- 
tile and beautiful country, abounds in water-falls and rapids, 
and is yet a wilderness. That portion which divides the 
United States from New Brunswick is somewhat cultivated, 
but principally by a French population. Owing to the fact 
that the farms all face the river, and are very narrow, (but 
extend back to the distance of two or three miles,) the houses 
have all been erected immediately on the river, so that, to 



w 



THE MADAWASKA. 175 

the casual observer, the country might appear to be thickly 
inhabited, which is far from being the case. The principal 
business done on the river is the driving of logs and timber 
for the market of St. John ; and excepting the worthy and 
hard-working lumbermen who toil in the forests, the people 
are devoted to the tilling of their land, and are precisely 
similar to the Acadians in their manners and customs, and 
probably from the same stock. There is a miniature steam- 
boat on the river, but as the unnumbered canoes of the inha- 
bitants are engaged in a kind of opposition line, the fiery 
little craft would seem to have a hard time. In navigating 
the river the voyageurs paddle down stream, but use a pole in 
ascending; and two smart men, gracefully swinging their 
poles, and sending their little vessel rapidly against the cur- 
rent, taken in connection with the pleasant scenery of the 
river, present an agreeable and novel sight. 

We started from Madawaska at four o'clock in the morn- 
ing, and having travelled some twenty miles, we thought we 
would stop at the first nice-looking tavern on the shore, (for 
about every other dwelling is well supplied with liquor, and, 
consequently, considered a tavern,) for the purpose of obtain- 
ing a breakfast. Carefully did we haul up our canoe, and 
having knocked at the cabin door, were warmly welcomed 
by a savage-looking man, whose face was completely be- 
smeared with dirt, and also by a dirty-looking woman, a cou- 
ple of dirty-legged girls, and a young boy. The only furni- 
ture in the room was a bed, and a small cupboard, while the 
fire-place was without a particle of fire. In one corner of 
the room was a kind of bar, where the boy was in attend- 
ance, and seemed to be the spokesman of the dwelling. We 
asked him if we could have some breakfast, and he promptly 
replied that we could. 

" What can you give us ?" was my next question. 



A of 



176 A TOUR TO THE RIVER S AGUE NAY. 

" Anything you please," replied the boy, in broken En- 
glish. 

'* We'll take some ham and eggs, then." 
" We haven't any, only some eggs." 
*' We'll take some bread and milk." 
" We haven't any bread, but plenty of milk." 
" Haven't you any kind of meat?" 
" No, plenty of Rum. Whafll you have .^" 
I could stand this no longer, and having expressed my dis- 
pleasure at the ignorance of the boy, and condemned his fa- 
ther for pretending to keep a tavern, I gave the former a six- 
pence, and took half a dozen eggs, with which we returned 
to our canoe. While I was fixing my seat in the boat, and 
commenting upon wilderness hospitality, my companion 
amused himself by swallowing four of the purchased eggs 
in a leather cup of brandy. In two hours after this little ad- 
venture, our little canoe was moored above the Falls of the St. 
John, and we were enjoying a first-rate breakfast, prepared 
by the lady of a Mr. Russell, who keeps a comfortable house 
entertainment in this place. 
After I had finished my cigar, and enjoyed a resting spell, 
I pocketed my sketch-book, and spent the entire day exa- 
mining the scenery of the Falls. After making a broad and 
beautiful sweep, the river St. John here makes a sudden turn, 
and, becoming contracted to the width of about fifty yards, 
the waters make a plunge of perhaps forty feet, which is 
mostly in a solid mass, though rather disposed to form the 
third of a circle from shore to shore. Below this pitch, and 
extending for about two miles, is a continued succession of 
falls, which make the entire descent upwards of eighty feet. 
The water rushes through what might be termed a winding 
chasm, whose walls are perhaps one hundred and fifty or 
two hundred feet high, and perpendicular. Generally speak- 
ing, the entire distance from the first fall to the last, presents 



THE FALLS OF ST. JOHN. 177 



a perfect sheet of foam, though around every jutting point is 
a black, and, apparently, bottomless pool, which, when I 
peered into them, were quite alive with salmon, leaping- into the 
air, or swimming on the margin of the foam. On the western 
side of the falls, to a great extent, the original forest has been 
suffered to remain, and a walk through their shadowy reces- 
ses is an uncommon treat ; and on this side, also, is the ruin 
of an old saw-mill, which, for a wonder, actually adds to the 
picturesque beauty of the spot. On the eastern side of the 
falls is a commanding hill, which has been stripped of its 
forest, and now presents a stump field, of three hundred acres. 
It is a desolate spot, but in strict keeping with the enterprise 
of the province. The expense of clearing, or, rather, half 
clearing, the hill in question, was six thousand dollars, and it 
was the original intention of the mother government to erect 
thereon an extensive fortress ; but owing to the birth of a 
sensible reflection, the idea was abandoned. The barracks 
of the place, as they now exist, consist of two log houses, 
which are occupied by a dozen sprigs of the British Army. 
And thus endeth my account of the most picturesque spot 
in New Brunswick, which, I doubt not, may hereafter be- 
come a fashionable place of summer resort. 



12 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The Hermit of Aroostook. 

Mouth of the Aroostook, July. 
I WAS on my way down the river St. John, in New Bruns- 
wick, and having heard that the Aroostook (one of its principal 
tributaries), was famous for its salmon and a picturesque 
water-fall, I had taken up my quarters at a tavern near the 
mouth of that stream, with a view of throwing the fly for a 
few days, and adding to my stock of sketches. I arrived at 
this place in the forenoon, and after depositing my luggage 
in an upper room, and ordering a dinner, I proceeded to ar- 
range my tackle and pencils for an afternoon expedition. 
This preparatory business I performed in the sitting-room of 
the tavern, where there happened to be seated at the time, 
and reading the New York Albion, an oddly-dressed, but 
gentlemanly-looking man. In form, he was tall and slender, 
appeared to be about fifty years of age, and there was such 
an air of refinement in his appearance and manners that he 
attracted my particular attention. I said nothing, however, 
and quietly continued my snelling operations, until summoned 
to dinner. While at the table, I sent for the landlord to in- 
quire about the stranger whom I had noticed, and his reply 
was as follows : — " His name is Robert E_gger; he is a 
strange but good man, and lives the life of a recluse ; his 



THE HERMIT OF AROOSTOOK. 179 

house is above the fall, on the Aroostook, and about four 
miles from here. He has been in this part of the country 
for many years, but I seldom see him at my house, except- 
ing when he wants to read the news, put a letter in the office, 
or purchase a bag of flour." 

With this intelligence I was quite delighted, for I fancied 
that I had discovered a character, which eventually proved 
to be the case. On returning to the room where the stranger 
was seated, I introduced myself by offering him a cigar; and 
while fixing my rod, asked him a few questions about the 
surrounding country. His replies proved him to be an in- 
telligent man, and as he happened to express himself a lover 
of the " gende art," I off'ered him the use of some fishing 
tackle, and invited him to accompany me. He refused my 
ofl*er, but accepted my invitation, and we started for the 
Aroostook. He officiated as my guide ; and when we ap- 
proached the river, which was from two to five feet deep, 
about one hundred yards wide, very rapid, and filled with 
bridge piers in ruin, we jumped into a Frenchman's canoe, 
and were landed on the northern shore. Here we came into 
a road which passed directly along the bank of the river; this 
we followed for one mile, until we arrived at a flouring-mill, 
located at the mouth of a large and very beautiful brook, 
where the road made a sudden turn towards the north. Di- 
rectly opposite the mill, on the Aroostook side, was a narrow 
and rapid rift, where, my friend told me, I was sure to hook 
a salmon. I did not like the appearance of the place, but 
took his advice and waded in. I tried my luck for some 
thirty minutes, but could not tempt a single fish. This, my 
friend did not understand ; he said there were salmon then), 
and thought that the fault was mine. I knew what he wanted, 
and therefore handed him my rod, that he might try his for- 
tune. He fished for nearly half an hour, and then broke the 
fly-tip of my rod. As I was cherishing an earnest desire to 



180 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

take at least one salmon, under the fall, which I thought the 
only likely place to succeed, and towards which I had set 
my face, this little accident made me exceedingly nervous. 
My friend attempted to console me by remarking, that, as it 
was ffettinpf to be toward evenino', we had better return to the 

DO " 

tavern, and take a fresh start in the morning. But this pro- 
position did not suit me at all, and I promptly said so. " Just 
as you please," replied my companion, and so we repaired 
the rod, and continued up the river. Very rapid, with many 
and deep pools, was this portion of the stream ; and our 
course along the shore, over logs and fallen trees, through 
tangled underbrush, and around rocky points — was attended 
with every imaginable difficulty, and so continued for at least 
two miles. On coming in sight of the fall, however, I was 
more than amply repaid for all my trouble, by the prospect 
which there presented itself. It was, perhaps, one hour be- 
fore sunset, and there was a delightful atmosphere resting 
upon the landscape. Directly before me, in the extreme dis- 
tance, and immediately under the crimson sun, was a narrow 
rocky gorge, through which foamed the waters of the Aroos- 
took, over a precipice of some thirty feet; and just below 
the fall, rose a perpendicular rock to the height of nearly a 
hundred feet, dividing the stream into two channels. The 
entire middle distance of the prospect was composed of a 
broad and almost circular basin of very deep and dark water, 
skirted mostly with a rocky shore, while directly across the 
surface of this pool, winding down the stream, was a line of 
foam, distinguishing the main channel; while the foreground 
of this picture consisted of a gravelly beach, two bark wig- 
wams, several canoes, and some half dozen Indians, who 
were enjoying their evening meal by the side of an expiring 
fire. 

We held a brief conversation with the Indians, and found 
out that they had visited the basin for the purpose of spear- 



THE HERMIT OF AROOSTOOK. 181 

ing salmon by torchlight; and while my companion sat down 
in their midst to rest himself, I jumped into one of the canoes, 
and paddled to the foot of the fall, to try one of my fancy 
flies. I fished for about thirty minutes — caught one small 
salmon — lost two very large ones, and returned to the Indian 
camp, where I had previously concluded to spend the night, 
provided my guide did not insist upon returning to the tavern 
by moonlight. It so happened, however, that my interesting 
plan was vetoed by my companion, who told me that his 
dwelling was only a mile oft', and that I must go and spend 
the night with him. I willingly assented to this proposition, 
and having picked up the salmon, we engaged the Indians to 
ferry us across the basin, and proceeded on our way. Our 
path was somewhat narrow, crooked, and intricate, and as I 
listened to the roaring of the water-fall, and thought of the 
mystery which hung over my companion, I could not but 
wonder what I was about, and to what strange place I was 
going. 

In due time, however, we emerged from the woods, and 
came out upon the side of a gentle hill, which sloped to the 
margin of the Aroostook, and was sufficiently open to com- 
mand an extensive view of the river. Here my friend told 
me to tarry a few moments, for he had a canoe hidden among 
some willows, and wished to hunt it up, that we might re- 
cross the river once more. I heard his words, but neglected 
to assist him, for my whole attention was riveted by the 
scene upon which I was gazing. The sober livery of twi- 
light had settled upon the world, and the flowing of the river 
was so peaceful, that I could distinctly hear the hum of un- 
numbered insects as they sported in the air. On the oppo- 
site shore was a lofty forest-covered hill, and at the foot of it 
a small clearing, in the centre of which stood a rude log 
cabin — the dwelling-place of my friend. On my left, the 
river presented the appearance of a lake : and apparently in 



182 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

the centre of it were two of the most exquisitely foliaged 
islands imaginable. The valley seemed completely hemmed 
in with mountains, and these, together with a glowing sky, 
were all distinctly mirrored in the sleeping waters. Charm- 
ing beyond compare was this evening landscape, and the holy 
time " was quiet as a nun, breathless with adoration." But 
now my companion summoned me to a seat in the canoe, 
and we passed over the stream in safety ; he hauled up his 
shallop, laid aside his paddle, and, slapping me on the shoul- 
der, led the way to his cabin, repeating, in a loud, clear voice, 
the following words : 

" Alone I live, between four hills ; 
Famed Roostook runs between : 
At times, wild animals appear, 
But men are seldom seen."' 

On entering the hut, which was now quite dark, as it only 
contained one window, my companion turned abruptly round, 
and after making a frolicsome remark about my being in his 
power, he exclaimed — " That poetry I repeated to you just 
now was a home-spun article ; but as you might fancy some- 
thing a little more civilized, I would say to you, my young 
friend, in the language of Wordsworth's Solitary, 

' This is my domain, my cell, 
My hermitage, my cabin, what yovi will — 
I love it better than a snail his house ; 
But now ye shall be feasted with our best.' " 

Soon as these words had fallen from his lips, my friend pro- 
ceeded to collect some wood for a fire, and while I was left 
to kindle the flame, he seized a tin-pail, and went after some 
spring water, which, he said, was some distance off. In a few 
moments, I produced a sufficient quantity of light to answer 
my purpose, and then took occasion to survey the room, into 
which I had been thus strangely introduced. Everything 



THE HERMIT OF AROOSTOOK. 183 

about me seemed to be oddity itself. First was the huge fire- 
place, rudely made of rough stones, and filled with ashes ; 
then the blackish appearance of the log walls around, and the 
hemlock rafters above. In one corner stood a kind of wooden 
box, filled with blankets, which answered the purpose of a 
bed; and in front of the only window in the cabin was a 
pine table on which stood an inkstand and some writing 
paper, and under which sat a large gray cat, watching my 
movements with a suspicious eye. In one place stood a 
wooden chest, and a half-barrel of meal, and the only things 
in the room to sit upon, were a couple of wooden chairs. 
The crevices in the walls were stopped up with rags and clay, 
and from various rafters depended bundles of mint, hemlock, 
and other useful productions of the wood. A rusty old gun? 
and a home-made fishing rod occupied one corner ; and on 
every side, resting upon wooden pegs, were numerous shelves, 
of every size and form, which were appropriated to a variety 
of uses. On one or two of them were the cooking utensils 
of my friend; on another, a lot of smoky books; and on 
others, a little of everything, from a box of salt or paper of 
tea, down to a spool of thread or a paper of needles. 

In a few moments my friend entered the cabin, and imme- 
diately began to prepare our evening meal, which consisted 
of bread, fried pork, and salmon, and a cup of tea. Plain 
was our food, but it was as nicely cooked as if it had 
been done by a pretty girl, instead of an old man, and the 
comic pomposity with which every little matter was attended 
to, afforded me much amusement. One thing I remember, 
which struck me as particularly funny. My host was talk- 
ing about the conduct of Sir Robert Peel and the British 
Parliament, and while in the midst of his discourse, opened 
a trap-door leading to his cellar, and descended therein. I 
knew not what he was after, and waited his re-appearance 
with some anxiety, when suddenly he bobbed up his ghost- 



184 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

like head, resumed the thread of his remarks, and held forth 
in one hand a huge piece of fat pork, and as he became ex- 
cited about the conduct of the Prime Minister, he occasion- 
ally slapped the pork with the remaining hand, and then 
shook it in the air, as if it had been one of the bloody Irish- 
men to whom he was occasionally alluding. He reminded 
me of Shakspeare's grave-digger. I also remember, that, when 
my friend was kneading his bread, the idea entered his head, 
from some remark that I had dropped, that I did not com- 
prehend the meaning of a certain passage in Shakspeare ; so 
he immediately wiped one of his hands, leaned over for his 
ragged copy of the mighty bard, and immediately settled the 
question to our mutual satisfaction. 

Supper being ended, I pulled out of my pocket a couple 
of cigars which I had brought with me, and we then seated 
ourselves comfortably before the fire, and entered into a sys- 
tematic conversation. The greater part of the talking was 
done by my companion, and in the course of the evening, I 
gathered the following particulars respecting his own history: 

He told me he was a native of Hampshire, England, and 
had spent his boyhood in the city of London, as a counting- 
house clerk. He claimed a good name for his family, and 
added that Mr. Jerdan, editor of the London Literary Ga- 
zette, was his brother-in-law, having married his only sister. 
He avowed himself about sixty years of age, and had been 
a resident of New Brunswick ever since the year 1809. He 
first came across the Atlantic as a government agent, for the 
transaction of business connected with the Fur Trade ; and 
when he settled in the province, the whole country was an 
untrodden wilderness. Since that time he had followed a 
variety of employments, had acquired a competence, but lost 
it through the rascality of friends. He told me he was a 
widower, and that he had one son, who resided in Frederick- 
ton, and was rapidly acquiring a reputation for his knowledge 



THE HERMIT OF AROOSTOOK. 185 

of engineering. " It does my heart good to remember this 
fact," continued my friend, " and I do hope that my son will 
not disgrace his family, as some people seem to think I have 
done. The God-forsaken inhabitants of this region have a 
habit of calling me a crazy old man. God be praised ! I 
knoiv they overshoot the mark in that particular ; if I have 
lost my reason, I can tell the mocking world that I have en- 
dured trouble enough to make even a philosopher a raving 
maniac. By patient and unwearied toil, I have won two 
small fortunes, but both of them were snatched away, and I 
was left a beggar. The home government took pity on me, 
and offered to make me a present of land, adding that I was 
at liberty to make my own selection. I accepted their offer, 
and selected five hundred acres on the Aroostook, making the 
fall we visited this evening the centre of my domain. I duly 
received a deed for the property, and having concluded that 
my fellow-men were as tired of me as I was of them, I 
bolted for the wilderness, and have lived here ever since. 
Yes, sir, for twelve years have I been the only human in- 
mate of this rude cabin ; I ought to except, however, ' a lucid 
interval' of some nine months, which I spent in England, 
about four years ago, visiting my friends and the favorite 
haunts of my childhood. To enjoy even that little luxury, 
I was compelled to sacrifice a portion of my land." 

"But why do you not sell your entire property," I re- 
marked, "and take up your abode among men, where your 
knowledge might be made available ?" 

"Knowledge, indeed !" replied the hermit philosopher; 
" all that I possess, you might easily hide in the bowl of an 
acorn. I do know enough to cast my eyes heavenward, 
when crushed by misfortune, but the same knowledge was 
possessed by the worm upon which I accidentally trod this 
morning. What is man, at his best estate, but a worm ? 
But this is not answering your question. My only reason 



iS6 A TOtTR 1*0 TBE RIVER SAGTJENAY. 

for not selling this property is, that I cannot find a purchaser. 
Most gladly would I jump at the chance, and then I would 
mingle with my fellow-men, and endeavor to be of them. 
Travellers, who sometimes pass through this region, tell me 
that my property is worth $5000 ; I know it to be worth at 
least that amount, but I should be glad to sell it for $3000, 
and that, too, on a credit of ten years. The interest would, 
indeed, be a meagre income, but I have schooled myself in 
the ways of poverty ; and though it once cost me $2000 to 
carry me through a single year, I can tell you that my ex- 
penses for the last five years have not averaged more than 
twenty dollars, which I have had to obtain as best I could. 
But you must not misunderstand me. The little clearing 
which surrounds my rookery, contains six acres, and as I 
cultivate them with all diligence, they keep me from actual 
starvation." 

"But it strikes me, my dear sir, that you ask rather an ex- 
travagant price for your uncultivated land ?" I asked this 
question with a view of obtaining some information in refer- 
ence to the valley of the Aroostook, and was not disappointed. 
The reply of my friend was as follows: 

"I can convince you that you are mistaken. In the first 
place, the water privilege which my land covers, is acknow- 
ledged to be the most valuable on the Aroostook, and I may 
add that it is abundantly fertile. And then think of the 
valley, at the very threshold of which I am located ! It is 
one of the most beautiful and luxuriant in this northern 
wilderness ; and the only thing against it, though I say it that 
should not, is the fact that nearly five miles of its outlet be- 
longs to the English government, while the remainder belongs 
to the United States. The whole of it ought to be yours ; 
but if it were, I would not live here a year ; I am near enough 
to you now ; directly on the boundary line between your 
country and mine. The Aroostook, I verily believe, is one 



THE HERMIT OF AROOSTOOK. 187 

of the most important branches of the St. John. Its general 
course is easterly, but it is exceedingly serpentine, and ac- 
cording to some of your best surveyors, drains upwards of a 
million acres of the best soil in Maine. Above my place, 
there is hardly a spot that might not be navigated by a small 
steamboat, and I believe the time is not far distant when your 
enterprising Yankees will have a score of boats employed 
here, in carrying their grain to market. Before that time 
comes, however, you must dig a canal or build a railroad 
around my beautiful water-fall, which, I am sure, could be 
done for $20,000. An extensive lumbering business is now 
carried on in the valley, but its future prosperity must depend 
upon its agriculture. Already are its shores dotted with 
well-cultivated farms, and every year is adding to their num- 
ber, and the rural beauty of those already in existence. The 
soil of this valley is rich, and composed principally of what 
is called alluvial (not interval) land, together with the quality 
known as upland. In many portions, however, you will 
find some of the most charming intervals in the world. The 
trees of this region are similar to those of your northern 
States. The staple crop of the Aroostook farmer is wheat. 
Owing to the shortness of our seasons, corn does not arrive 
at perfection, and its cultivation is neglected. Rye, barley, 
and oats, all flourish here, but much more buckwheat is raised 
than any other grain besides wheat. Grasses flourish here 
in great perfection, and the farmer of Aroostook will yet 
send to market immense quantities of cattle. As to the 
climate, it is not so severe as is generally supposed. Snow 
falls early, and continues late, which prevents the ground 
from freezing very deep. And when summer comes, as you 
may testify, the weather is sufficiently warm for every ne- 
cessary purpose. Now, sir, do you not think I have made 
out a clear case ?" I answered in the affirmative, and thanked 
him for the information he had given me. Like Oliver Twist, 



188 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

however, I was anxious for " more," and therefore endea- 
vored to start him on another subject. In this laudable effort 
I fully succeeded, and by merely expressing the opinion that 
he must lead a very lonely life in this remote wilderness. 

"Not at all, not at all," replied my friend. "It is my 
good fortune to belong to that class of men who depend upon 
books, the works of nature, and themselves, for happiness, and 
not upon a selfish and heartless world. As to my books, they 
are not very abundant, nor are they bound in fancy morocco ; 
but the substance of them is of the right sort. Foremost 
among them is the Bible, which tells even a poor devil like 
me that he is a man. Perfect in their generation are the 
truths of this glorious old Book ; they have an important 
bearing upon everything; and they should be studied and 
cherished with jealous care. But the earth-born men, with 
whom I hold daily communion, are the mighty Shakspeare, 
the splendid Gibbon, the good and loving brother poets 
Thomson and Wordsworth, the gifted but wayward Burns, 
the elegant and witty Addison, and the ponderous Johnson. 
These are the minds which always afford me solid satisfac- 
tion. As to the immense herd who keep the printing presses 
of the present day constantly employed, 5 know nothing 
about them, and care still less. And now as to the pleasures 
which are brought to me by the revolving seasons. They 
are indeed manifold, and it is pleasant to remember that 
'Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.' The 
hills which surround my cabin I look upon as familiar 
friends ; not only when crowned with a wreath of snow, but 
when rejoicing in their summer bloom; and a more peaceful 
and heart-soothing stream can nowhere be found, than the 
one which flows along by my door; and you know from experi- 
ence that it abounds in the finest of salmon and trout. The 
surrounding woods furnish me with game, but their greatest 
treasures are the ten thousand beautiful birds, which make 



THE HERMIT OF AROOSTOOK. 189 

melody in their little hearts, and afford me unalloyed pleasure 
for at least one half the year. I seldom have occasion to 
kill these feathered minstrels for food, and the consequence 
is, whenever I go out into my fields to work, they gather 
around me without fear, and often come so near, as to be in 
my very way. The quail and the wren, the jay and the blue- 
bird, the mocking-bird, the partridge, the fish-hawk, the eagle, 
and the crow, and also the swallow, the owl and whippoor- 
will, all build their nests within a stone's throw of my 'door, 
and they know that the friendless old man will do them no 
harm. And then what exquisite pleasure do I continually 
enjoy in watching the ever-varying changes of the year ! 
First, when the primrose tells me that the rains are over 
and gone, and I go forth in the refreshing sunshine to sow 
my seeds ; secondly, when the glorious summer is in its 
prime, with its dewy mornings and lovely twilights ; also in 
the sober autumnal time, when I thoughtfully count the 
leaves floating on the bosom of the stream; and then again 
when the cold winds of winter are howling around my cabin, 
and I sit in my pleasant solitude before a roaring fire, build- 
ing palaces in my mind, as I peer into the burning embers. 
Yes, sir, I have learned to live without excitement, and to 
depend upon myself for the companionship I need. I do, 
indeed, occasionally steal out of my beautiful vale, and mingle 
with my fellow men ; but I always return perfectly contented 
with my lot. After all, I do not believe that the world could 
add greatly to my stock of happiness, even if I were a wor- 
shipper of Mammon, a brawling politician, or a responsible 
statesman." 

" But, Mr. Egger, it strikes me that your manner of life is 
not in keeping with the Bible, for which you have expressed 
so much reverence." 

"That maybe true," was the reply, "but I make no sanc- 
timonious pretensions. I do but little to promote the happi- 



190 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

ness of my fellow-men, and I congratulate myself with the 
idea that I do as little to make them miserable. The influ- 
ence of my example amounts to nothing, and I give no bread 
to the poor, because I have none to give. But let us drop 
the subject; I feel that your questions may so annoy me, that 
I shall be compelled to abandon this glorious old wilderness, 
and become a denizen of the busy and noisy world." 

A breach having thus been made in our discourse, I ex- 
amined my watch, and found it to be near twelve o'clock. 
My companion took the hint, and immediately proceeded to 
^x a sleeping place that would accommodate us both. This 
was done by spreading the clothes of the wooden bedstead 
upon the floor. While going through with this little opera- 
tion, he held high above his head a ragged old bed-quilt, and 
asked me what I thought Queen Victoria would say, if she 
had such an article to rest her royal limbs upon ? He then 
pointed to the particular spot which he wanted me to occupy, 
giving as a reason for the request, that there was a hole on 
the opposite side of his mansion, where toads, rats, and 
weasels were frequently in the habit of entering, and he was 
afraid that they might annoy me, though he had never been 
disturbed by their nocturnal visits. This information ap- 
peared to me somewhat peculiar, but did not prevent me 
from undressing myself to lie down. When about half through 
this business, however, I was actually compelled to take a 
seat on account of a laughing fit brought upon me by one 
or two stories, which my host related for my special benefit. 
What a strange man, indeed ! thought I, and making another 
eflfort, I tumbled into bed. In the mean time, my companion 
had stripped himself of everything but his shirt, and in spite 
of the frailty of his "spindle shanks," was throwing himself 
into the attitudes for which Kemble was distinguished, whose 
acting he had often witnessed in olden times. I was already 
quite exhausted with excess of laughter, and I verily believed 



THE HERMIT OF AROOSTOOK. 191 

that the queer antics of the anchorite and philosopher would 
be the death of me. But I felt that I must go to sleep, and, 
in self-defence, partly covered my head with the end of a 
quilt, and almost swore that I would not be disturbed again. 

I did not swear, however, and was consequently again dis- 
turbed. I had just fixed my head upon the pillow, as I 
thought, for the last time, when I was startled by a tremen- 
dous yell proceeding from without the cabin. I rushed out of 
the house as if the old Harry himself had been after me, 
and beheld my spare and venerable friend sitting upon a 
stump, gazing upon the rising moon, and listening to the 
distant howl of a wolf, with one of his feet dangling to and 
fro like the pendulum of a clock. " Wasn't that a musical 
yell, my boy?" were the first words spoken by the hermit 
mad-cap ; and then he went on to point out all the finer fea- 
tures of the scene spread out before us. Silently flowed the 
stream, grand and sublime looked the mountains, clear and 
very blue the sky, spirit-like the moon and stars, and above 
the neighboring water-fall ascended a column of spray, which 
was fast melting into a snowy cloud. After enjoying this 
picture for a reasonable time, my companion then proposed 
that we should enjoy a swim in the river, to which arrange- 
ment I assented, even as did the wedding-guest of Coleridge 
to the command of the Ancient Mariner. Our bath ended, 
we returned to the cabin, and in the course of half an hour, 
the hermit and the stranger were side by side in the arms of 
sleep. 

On opening my eyes in the morning, the pleasant sunshine 
was flooding the floor through the open door, and my friend, 
who had risen without disturbing me, was frying some trout 
which he had just taken in the stream. I arose, rolled up 
the bed, and prepared myself for breakfast, which was par- 
ticularly relished by the giver and the receiver. I spent the 
forenoon rambling about the estate of my old friend, and en- 



192 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

joying the surrounding scenery; I then proposed to him that 
he should go down and be my guest at the tavern on the St. 
John for a day or two, which invitation was accepted. On 
my return, I took a sketch of the secluded vale where stands 
the cottage of my friend, also a profile of his own handsome 
face, and a view of his water-fall. The time of my departure 
having arrived, I left my friend with a heavy heart, for my 
distant city-home, while he returned to his solitary cottage 
among the mountains. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The River St. John. 

Woodstock, July. 

I HAVE recently performed a pilgrimage along the valley 
of the Lower St. John, and as I am about to leave the river, 
it is meet that I should give my reader a record of my ob- 
servations. The distance from the Falls of St. John to the 
city of that name, is two hundred and twenty miles. The 
width of the river varies from a quarter of a mile to two 
miles, and the depth from two to forty feet. That portion 
lying north of Frederickton abounds in rapids and shallows, 
and is navigated only by flat-bottomed boats, which are taken 
up stream by horse power, but descend with the current. 
Here, for the most part, the shores are mountainous, and only 
partly cultivated, with high and picturesque banks ; the lowest 
portion, however, is of a level character, and presents the 
appearance of an ancient and highly cultivated country, and 
is navigated by steamboats, and the common sail-craft of the 
country. The soil all along the shores is good, but seems 
better adapted for grass than wheat, and I can see no good 
reason for its not becoming greatly distinguished as a grazing 
country. 

The river is not distinguished for any pictorial feature, 
(though it abounds in beautiful landscapes,) exceptnig a place- 
13 



194 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

called the Narrows, situated at the southern extremity. At 
this point the stream is not more than five hundred yards 
wide, and as it is bounded on either side by a high rocky bar- 
rier, the current ordinarily passes through with great rapidity. 
The tides of the ocean ascend about thirty miles, and it is 
only when the tide is high that the point in question can be 
navigated. Though these Narrows are a great annoyance to 
the navigator, by the lover of the picturesque they are highly 
esteemed. — Not only are they beautiful in themselves, but, 
owing to the peculiarity of the place, it is frequently the case, 
that the broad expanse of water above it is covered with a 
fleet of sloops, schooners, steamboats, towboats, and timber 
crafts, which present a peculiar and agreeable panorama. 
Tlie river abounds with salmon and shad, and the former, 
though rather small, may be taken by the angler in the prin- 
cipal tributaries. They are not sufliciently abundant, how- 
ever, to constitute an important article of commerce, and the 
common modes of taking them are with the spear and the 
drift net. 

The principal towns on the St. John are, Woodstock, 
French Village, Frederickton and St. John. The first of 
these is one hundred and fifty miles from the mouth, and 
though a ragged, yet an interesting village. So far as its na- 
tural productions are concerned, I am disposed to compliment 
this province in the highest terms ; but I must say, that the 
ignorance, idleness, and gouging character of its common peo- 
ple, have made me quite willing to take my departure there- 
from. The expenses of travelling are enormous. Stage 
fares average about twelve cents per mile, and if you happen 
to spend a week at a miserable country tavern, you will have 
to pay two dollars per day for board. With a few exceptions, 
there is hardly a country tavern in the province, where the 
traveller is not in danger of being robbed. It was my good 
fortune to be robbed only twice, but I was particularly fortu- 



THE RIVER ST. JOHN. 195 

nate. This is rather severe, but I am driven to talk in this 
strain, though I would not be understood as reflecting upon 
the better classes of the province. 

The stage route from the Grand Falls to St. John passes 
through Woodstock, but the distance from this place to the 
American town of Houlton is ten miles, and in this direction 
there is also an established stage route to Bangor. 

The next place on the St. John of any note is French 
Village. It usually contains a thousand souls — most of them 
Indians. They live in frame and log houses, and though 
they pretend to do some farming, they are chiefly engaged in 
hunting and fishing. They are a good-looking race, speak 
English fluently, and are the followers of a Catholic priest, 
who lives among them, and ofl[iciates in a small chapel which 
was built by the Jesuits at an early day. This society is 
said to be one of the most wealthy in the province. The 
chief of the village is one Louis Beir. He lives in a very 
comfortable and well-furnished house, is rather a handsome 
man, dresses in a half-savage manner, and while he ofl^ers 
his visitor a comfortable chair, he invariably seats himself 
upon the floor in the true Indian fashion. 

Frederickton is at the head of the steamboat navigation, 
and distant from St. John eighty miles. Between these two 
places there runs a morning and evening boat, and the sum- 
mer travel is quite extensive. Frederickton contains about 
eight thousand inhabitants, composed, principally, of Irish, 
Scotch and English. It contains three principal streets, run- 
ning north and south, and some half dozen handsome public 
buildings, including an Episcopal church, after the Tuscan 
order, a court house and a college. The town is situated 
on a level plain, and its suburbs are made exceeding beautiful 
by the number of rural residences which attract the eye in 
every direction. The elm and poplar both seem to flourish 
here, and add much to the picturesqueness of the place and 



196 A TOUR TO THE RIVER S AGUE NAY. 

vicinity. The business of Frederickton is only of a second- 
rate character, and it has become what it is, merely from the 
fact that it has heretofore been the seat of government. This 
fact has also had a tendency to collect a good society in the 
place, and its " ton," though in a small way, have been dis- 
posed to cut quite a dash. The "mother Parliament," I be- 
lieve, has recently removed the seat of government to St. 
John, and the lovers of Frederickton are sorry and a little 
angry. 

The city of St. John stands at the mouth of the river of 
that name, and is also laved by the waters of the Bay of 
Fundy. I hate cities, but suppose that I must stop a moment 
in the one alluded to. It is a business place, planted among 
rocks, contains some twenty thousand inhabitants, (two-thirds 
of whom are Irish,) and in this port, at the present time, is 
moored a fleet of two hundred ships. Its public buildings 
are numerous, the finest of which are the court house, an 
Episcopal church of the Doric order, another after the Goth- 
ic, and a Presbyterian church after the Corinthian order. 
The city is defended by a fortress, which presents a hand- 
some appearance as you approach the port. The merchants 
of the place are chiefly employed in the square timber trade, 
and have, heretofore, done an extensive business. This trade, 
however, I am inclined to believe, is rapidly running out. 
On the opposite side of the St. John River is a picturesque 
point or hill, which is called Carlton Hill. It is surmounted 
by a massive block-house, and commands an extensive view 
of the Bay of Fundy, the spring tides of which rise to the 
height of sixty feet, and when coming in, make a terrible 
roar. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Penobscot River. 

Off the Coast of Maine, July. 

One week ago I was fighting with musquitoes and flies, 
on the head waters of the Penobscot, and now that I am 
upon the ocean once more, I fancy that my feelings are allied 
to those of an old moose that I lately saw standing in a moun- 
tain lake, with the water up to his chin. The noble river 
which I have mentioned, is all my fancy painted it, and in 
spite of its insect inhabitants, I shall ever remember it with 
pleasure. 

The length of this stream from the mouth of its bay to 
where its principal branches come together, is about one 
hundred and forty miles; from this junction, to the fountain 
head of the west branch, the distance is supposed to be one 
hundred and fifty miles, while the east branch is probably 
only one hundred miles in length. Both of these streams 
rise in the midst of a mountain wilderness, looming above 
which is old Kathaden, the loftiest mountain in Maine, and 
elder brother to Mount Washington, in New Hampshire. 
The mountain is distant from Moosehead Lake only about 
twenty miles, but it towers into the sky so grandly, that 
nearly all the people who inhabit the northern part of Maine 
look upon it as a familiar friend. The two branches of the 



198 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

Penobscot run through a mountainous region, both of them 
abounding in rapids, though the west branch contains a num- 
ber of picturesque falls. The soil of this region, generally 
speaking, is good, but remains in its original wildness. 
Its stationary inhabitants are few and far between ; but it 
gives employment to about three thousand lumbermen. They 
spend the winter wielding the axe in the forests, and the 
spring and summer in driving down the stream logs which 
they have prepared for the saw-mills, which are mostly 
located on the lower part of the Penobscot. Nine months 
in the year they labor without ceasing, but usually appro- 
priate to themselves a play spell of three months, which is 
the entire autumn. They are a young and powerfully built 
race of men, mostly New Englanders, generally unmarried, 
and, though rude in their manner, and intemperate, are quite 
intelligent. They seem to have a passion for their wild and 
toilsome life, and, judging from their dresses, I should think 
possess a fine eye for the comic and fantastic. The entire 
apparel of an individual usually consists of a pair of gray 
pantaloons and two red flannel shirts, a pair of long boots, 
and a woollen covering for the head, and all these things are 
worn atone and the same time. The head-covering alluded 
to, when first purchased, is what might be called a hat, but 
the wearers invariably take particular pains to transform the 
article into such queer shapes as to render it indescribable. 
Sometimes they take the crown and tie it in the shape of a 
fool's cap, and sometimes they trim the rims with a jack 
knife into many different fashions. Their wages vary from 
twenty to thirty dollars per month, and they are chiefly em- 
ployed by the lumber merchants of Bangor, who furnish 
them with necessary supplies. 

The Penobscot, I suppose, is unquestionably the most 
fruitful lumber river in the United States, and its pine and 
hemlock forests seem yet to be inexhaustible ; and the State 



THE PENOBSCOT RIVER. 199 

of Maine is indebted to the lumber business for many of its 
beautiful cities and towns. 

From the Forks of the Penobscot to Bangor, the distance 
is about sixty miles. This portion of the river is nearly a 
quarter of a mile wide. The banks are rather low and level, 
and somewhat cultivated. The water is deep and clear, and 
the current strong. Generally speaking, the scenery of the 
river is not remarkable, and were it not for the numerous 
islands, it might be considered tame, by the lover of a moun- 
tain land. The islands alluded to,, however, are exceedingly 
beautiful. Covered as they are with venerable elms, and 
containing no underbrush, but a continuous plot of green, 
they have all the appearance of cultivated parks. The stage 
route from Woodstock, after reaching the Penobscot, con- 
tinues along the eastern bank, and as the coaches are com- 
fortable, and the horses good, the ride is quite pleasant. 
The principal village, of which there are four, is Old Town. 
It is a busy little place, and the present termination of a rail- 
road from Bangor, which is twelve miles distant. Directly 
opposite Old Town is a small island, where resides a rem- 
nant of the Penobscot Indians. They number some four 
hundred souls, and are just sufficiendy civilized to lead a very 
miserable sort of life. 

I come now to speak of Bangor. It is a well built, and 
handsome city, eighty miles from the ocean, and contains 
about eight thousand inhabitants. It is at the head of tide 
water navigation, and has a good harbor, where I counted, 
from one point, nearly two hundred sails. The principal 
article of trade is lumber, which is distinguished for its good 
qualities. All the heaviest merchants are engaged in the 
lumber trade, and almost everybody deals in it to a limited 
extent. A few thousand shingles will pay your tailor for a 
coat, a few loads of plank will settle your account with the 



200 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

butcher, and bundles of clap-boards are gladly received by 
the grocer, in exchange for his sugar and tea. 

With the people of Bangor I was very much pleased. 
Their manners and habits are stamped with the true New 
England character; they mind their own business, and are 
distinguished for their intelligence, virtue and hospitality. 
When I reached this place, my beard was more than half as 
long as that of the Wandering Jew, and it took me nearly a 
whole day to forget the bad French which I had acquired in 
Canada and New Brunswick, and transform myself into the 
semblance of a civilized man. I had been in the woods for 
so long a time, that I seized the first paper I saw to find out 
whether I had forgotten to read. You may readily imagine, 
therefore, what a refreshing effect the appearance and con- 
versation of intelligent people had upon my feelings. But 
the class of citizens who made the deepest impression upon 
me, were the children of Bangor. I met them at every cor- 
ner, and heard their happy voices in every dwelling, and a 
more perfectly beautiful race of creatures I never before saw 
in any city. 

The distance from Bangor to the ocean is eighty miles. 
For twenty miles, the river averages three quarters of a mile 
in width, when it gradually widens into an expansive bay or 
gulf. The water is deep, always covered with vessels, and 
abounds in salmon, which are taken only with the net. The 
shores are hilly and well cultivated, and the towns of Bucks- 
port, Frankfort, Belfast, and Thomaston, as you pass them, 
present each a thriving and pleasant appearance. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Moosehead Lake and the Kennebeck River. 

Portland, August. 

Moosehead Lake is the largest and the wildest in New 
England. It lies in the central portion of the State of Maine, 
and distant from the ocean about one hundred and fifty miles. 
Its length is fifty miles, and its width from five to fifteen. 
It is embosomed among a brotherhood of mountains, whose 
highest peak hath been christened with the beautiful name 
of Kathaden. All of them, from base to summit, are covered 
with a dense forest, in which the pine is by far the most 
abundant. It is the grand centre of a vast wilderness region, 
whose principal denizens are wild beasts. During the sum- 
mer months, its tranquil waters remain in unbroken solitude, 
unless some scenery-hunting pilgrim, like myself, happens to 
steal along its shores in his birchen canoe. But in the winter, 
the case is very difi'erent, for then, all along its borders, may 
be heard the sound of the axe, wielded by a thousand men. 
Then it is that an immense quantity of logs are cut, which 
are manufactured into lumber at the extensive mills down 
the Kennebeck, which is the only outlet of the lake. 

A winter at Moosehead must be attended with much that 
is rare, and wild, and exciting, not only to the wealthy pro- 
prietor who has a hundred men to superintend, but even to 



202 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

the toiling chopper himself. Look at a single specinien of 
the gladdening scenes enacted in that forest world. It is an 
awful night, the winds wailing, the snow falling, and the for- 
ests making a moan. Before you is a spacious, but rudely 
built log cabin, almost covered with snow. But now, above 
the shriek of the storm, and the howl of the wolf, you hear 
a long, loud shout, from a score of human mouths. You 
enter the cabin, and lo, a merry band of noble men, some 
lying on a buffalo-robe, and some seated upon a log, while 
the huge fire before them reveals every feature and wrinkle 
of their countenances, and makes a picture of the richest 
coloring. Now the call is for a song, and a young man sings 
a song of Scotland, which is his native land ; a mug of cider 
then goes round, after which an old pioneer clears his throat 
for a hunting legend of the times of old; now the cunning 
jest is heard, and peals of hearty laughter shake the building; 
and now a soul-stirring speech is delivered in favor of Henry 
Clay. The fire-place is again replenished, when, with a 
happy and contented mind, each woodman retires to his couch, 
to sleep, and to dream of his wife and children, or of the 
buxom damsel wliom he loves. 

The number of logs which these men cut in a single winter, 
is almost incredible, and the business of conveying them to the 
lake upon the snow gives employment to a great many additional 
men and their oxen. The consequence is, that large quan- 
tities of flour, potatoes, pork, and hay, are consumed; and as 
these things are mostly supplied by the farmers of the Kenne- 
beck, winter is the busiest season of the year throughout the 
region. When the lake is released from its icy fetters in 
the spring, a new feature of the logging business comes into 
operation, which is called rafting. A large raft contains 
about eighteen thousand logs, and covers a space of some 
ten acres. In towing them to the Kennebeck, a small steam- 
boat is employed, which, when seen from the summit of a 



MOOSEHEAD LAKE. 203 

hill, looks like a living creature struggling with a mighty- 
incubus. But the most picturesque thing connected with 
this business is a floating log-cabin, called a Raft House, 
which ever attends a raft on its way to the river. During 
the summer, as before stated, Moosehead Lake is a perfect 
solitude, for the " log-chopper" has become a " log driver" on 
the Kennebeck — the little steamer having been moored in 
its sheltering bay, near the tavern at the south end of the 
lake, and the toiling oxen been permitted to enjoy their sum- 
mer sabbath on the farm of their master. 

The islands of Moosehead Lake, of any size, are only four: 
Moose and Deer Islands at the southern extremity, Sugar 
Island in the large eastern bay, and Farm Island in a north- 
western direction from that. All of these are covered with 
beautiful groves, but the time is not far distant when they 
will be cultivated farms. Trout are the principal fish that 
flourish in its waters, and maybe caught at any time in great 
abundance. And thereby hangs a-Jish story. 

It was the sunset hour, and with one of my companions, 
I had gone to a rocky ledge for the purpose of trying my luck. 
Our bait was squirrel meat, and I was the first to throw the 
line. It had hardly reached the water, before I had the 
pleasure of striking and securing a two pound trout. This 
threw my friend into a perfect fever of excitement, so that 
he was everlastingly slow in cutting up the squirrel; and it 
may be readily supposed that I was somewhat excited myself; 
so I grabbed the animal out of his hands, and in less than a 
"jifl'y," and with my teeth, made a number of good baits. 
The conclusion of the whole matter was, that in less than 
forty minutes we had caught nearly seventy pounds of sal- 
mon trout. But the fish of Moosehead are not to be com- 
pared with those of Horicon in point of delicacy, though 
they are very large, and very abundant. The reason of this 
is, that its waters are not remarkably clear, and a good deal 



204 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

of its bottom is muddy. Moose River, which is the princi- 
pal tributary of the Lake, is a narrow, deep, and picturesque 
stream, where may be caught the common trout, weighing 
from one to five pounds. 

In this portion of Maine every variety of forest game may 
be found ; but the principal kinds are the gray wolf, the black 
bear, the deer, and the moose. Winter is the appropriate 
season for their capture, when they afford a deal of sport to 
the hunter, and furnish a variety of food to the forest laborers. 
Deer are so very plenty, that a certain resident told me, that, 
in the deep snow of last winter, he caught some dozen of 
them alive, and having cut a slit in their ears, let them go, 
that they might recount to their kindred their marvellous 
escape. But the homeliest animal, the most abundant, and 
the best for eating, is the moose. I did not kill one, but 
spent a night with an old hunter who did. During the warm 
summer night, these animals, for the purpose of getting clear 
of the black fly, are in the habit of taking to the water, where, 
with nothing but their heads in sight, they remain for hours. 
It was the evening of one of those cloudless nights whose 
memory can never die. We were alone far up the Moose 
River, and it seemed to me, " we were the first that ever 
burst into that/ores^ sea." On board a swan-like birch canoe 
we embarked, and with our rifles ready, we carefully and 
silently descended the stream. How can I describe the 
lovely pictures that we passed? Now we peered into an 
ink-black recess in the centre of a group of elms, where a 
thousand fire-flies were revelling in joy; — and now a solitary 
duck shot out into the stream from its hidden home, behind 
a fallen and decayed tree; now we watched the stars mirrored 
in the sleeping waves, and now we listened to the hoot of 
the owl, the drum of the partridge, the song of a distant 
water-fall, or the leap of a robber-trout. It was not far from 
midnight when my companion whispered, " Hush, hush !" 



THE RIVER KENNEBECK. 205 

and pointed to a dim spot some hundred yards below. The 
first chance was allotted me, so I took the best aim I could, 
and fired. I heard the ball skip along the water, and on 
coming near, found my mark to be only a smooth rock. 
Two hours more passed on, one small moose was killed, 
and at day-break we were in our cabin fast asleep. 

The principal outlet of Moosehead Lake is the Kennebeck, 
which now " demands my song." It is the second river in 
Maine, and one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. In- 
stead of watering a wilderness, as I had supposed, all along 
its valley, for over a hundred miles, are fertile and extensive 
farms, with here and there a thriving village, inhabited by an 
intelligent and industrious people. Its principal tributary is 
Dead River, and the spot at the junction of the two is called 
the Forks. The cultivated region stops here, and between 
this point and Moosehead, the distance is about twenty-five 
miles, and this portion is yet a forest wilderness. 

The principal attraction at the Forks is a capital tavern, 
kept by one Burnham, who is a capital fellow to guide the 
lover of Nature, or the trout fisherman, to Moxy Fall or 
Nameless Lake, which are in the immediate vicinity. The 
mountains about here are quite lofty, and exceedingly pictur- 
esque, abounding in the maple, the oak, the pine and hem- 
lock. Emptying into the Kennebeck, a few miles north of 
the Forks, is a superb mountain stream, named Moxy, after 
an Indian who was there drowned many years ago. Wind- 
ing for a long distance among wild ravines, and eternally 
singing to the woods a trumpet song, it finally makes a sud- 
den plunge into a chasm more than a hundred feet in depth. 
The perpendicular rocks on either side rise to an immense 
height, their tops crowned with a " peculiar diadem of trees,'* 
and their crevices filled up with dark-green verdure, whence 
occasionally issues, hanging gracefully in the air, beautiful 
festoons of the ivy, and clusters of the mountain blue-bell. 



206 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

The depth of the pool was never told, and its waters wash 
against the granite walls in a perpetual gloom. On one 
occasion I visited it when there was a high freshet, and saw 
what I could hardly have believed from a description. I 
stood on an elevated point, in front of the Fall, when my 
eyes rested upon an immense log, some sixty feet long, com- 
ing down the foaming stream with all the fury of a maddened 
steed ; presently it reached the precipice, — then cleaved its 
airy pathway down into the hell of waters, — was completely 
outof sight for at least two minutes; then, like a creature en- 
dowed with life, it shot upward again, clear out of the water, 
made another less desperate plunge, and quietly pursued its 
course into the Kennebeck. 

In speaking of Nameless Lahe^ it is necessary that I should 
be a little egotistical. It is a fairy-like sheet of pure water 
in the heart of the mountain wilderness, only about a mile 
in length, but full of trout. The proprietor was of the party 
that accompanied me on my first visit. While approaching 
it, the remark was made that it was yet without a name ; 
when it was agreed that it should be christened after that 
individual who should on that day throw the most successful 
fly. As fortune would have it, the honor was awarded to 
me ; and on a guide-board in the forest, three miles from 
Burnham's, may be seen the figure of a hand, and the words 
"Lake Lanman." There stands my written name, exposed 
" to the pellings of the pitiless storm ;" and in a few years, 
at the longest, it will be washed away, and the tree which 
supports it be mingling with the dust. Will it be even thus 
with the memory of my name ? 

Not to attempt a description of the scenery of the Kennebeck, 
which could be faithfully given only by the pictures of a Cole 
or Durand, I will take my readers down its beautiful valley, 
and tell them what I know respecting its beautiful villages. 

The first in order is Bingham, situated on a fertile " inter- 



THE RIVER KENNEBECK. 207 

val," surrounded with picturesque hills, charming and quiet 
as a summer day, and containing within the jurisdiction of 
its town an uncommonly fine farm, belonging to a Mr. Par- 
lin, who manufactures large quantities of maple sugar. 

Solon is the next village in the Kennebeck valley, remark- 
able for nothing but Caritunk Falls, which are twenty feet 
high, and run through a gorge fifty feet wide. Here I saw 
some twenty men " driving" the logs that had been lodged 
all along the river when it was low. It is a laborious life 
which these men lead, but they receive good pay, and meet 
with many interesting adventures. They generally have the 
soul to enjoy fine scenery, and therefore demand the respect 
of the intelligent traveller. 

Anson, though in the valley of the Kennebeck, is situated 
on Seven Mile Brook, and is a flourishing business place. 
From its neighboring hills may be seen the sky-piercing 
peaks of Mount Blue, Saddleback, Bigelow and Mount Abra- 
ham, which are the guardian spirits of Maine. The town is 
distinguished for its agricultural enterprise, and the abundance 
of its wheat, having actually produced more than is reported 
from any other town in the State. 

Norridgwock, so named by the Kennebeck Indians, be- 
cause, when fighting with their enemies at this place, they 
could find no-ridge-to-walk upon, which was a desirable ob- 
ject. It is a charming little village, and associated with a 
celebrated Indian chief named Bomazeen, and also with a 
Jesuit missionary, whose name I do not remember. Not far 
from here is a picturesque fall, also a picturesque bend of the 
Kennebeck, where empties Sandy River, upon which are 
many extensive farms. 

Skowhegan is a thriving village, where there are fine falls, 
which I could never look upon without thinking of the fa- 
mous Glen's Falls in New York, of which they are a per- 
fect counterpart, though on a smaller scale. Many and very 



208 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

dear to me are my recollections of its "choice bits" of scen- 
ery, of the fine singing I there heard, of the acquaintances 
there formed, and of the pleasant literary communings which 
were mine in company with one of the best and most intel- 
lectual of women, and who has, for many years, been my 
"guide, counselor, and friend." 

Waterville, the next town on the river, is the seat of a 
Baptist college, and the head of navigation on account of 
the Ticonic Falls. It is the centre of an extensive farming 
district, which fact, together with the literary taste of its peo- 
ple, makes it an uncommonly interesting place. 

Augusta, the capital of the State, is also on the Kennebeck, 
and with its Slate House and other state buildings, its ad- 
mirably conducted hotels, its commanding churches, its large 
bridge, and pleasant residences, is one of the most pictur- 
esque and interesting towns in the whole of New England. 

Hallowell, two miles below Augusta, was once a great 
place for business, and is still a very pleasant town, though 
unable to compete with its rival the capital. In my mind, 
it is chiefly associated with some fine people, and particularly 
with three beautiful sisters, who are great lovers of poetry, 
and accomplished musicians. 

Gardiner, *further down, is a tremendous place for saw- 
mills ; and lumbering I look upon as one of the surest kinds 
of business. It contains the handsomest church-building in 
the state, and a number of fine residences belonging to its 
wealthy citizens, of which that one belonging to Mr. Gardi- 
ner (after whom the place was named), is the finest. 

Bath is the next and most southern town on the Kenne- 
beck ; it is quite a large place, where there is a great deal of 
shipping done, and is now in a flourishing condition. The 
sail down the river from here is a most delightful one, for 
the eye revels on a continual succession of pleasant farms, 
quiet headlands, solitary islands, and vessels of every kind 



THE KENNEBECK RIVER. 209 

passing up and down the stream. Even to the present day, 
the Kennebeck abounds in salmon, which are caught with 
nets from the first of May till midsummer. To take them 
with the hook is fine sport, indeed, and for the manner in 
which I conquered a solitary individual, I refer my reader to 
a certain passage in Scrope on Salmon Fishing. Few are 
the rivers that I love more than the Kennebeck, and very 
dear to me are its manifold associations. 

I date this chapter from Portland, which is a thriving city 
of twenty thousand inhabitants, and interesting to the lovers 
of literature as being the native place of Prof. Longfellow, 
Mrs. Seba Smith, and John Neal. 



14 



CHAPTER XXV. 

A fishing party on the Thames — Watch Hill — Night adventures. 

Norivich, Conn.., August. 

A FEW mornings ago, just as the sun had risen above the 
eastern hills, which look down upon the Thames at Norwich, 
the prettiest sail-boat of the place left her moorings, and with 
a pleasant northerly breeze started for the Sound. Her 
passengers consisted of six gentlemen, all equipped in their 
sporting jackets, and furnished with fishing tackle, and their 
place of destination was Watch Hill, which is a point of land 
in Rhode Island, extending into the Atlantic, a few miles 
from Stonington. We were on a fishing frolic, as a matter 
of course, and a happier company, I ween, were never yet 
afloat, for the sport of a morning breeze. What with the 
story, the jest, the iced lemonade and exquisite cigar, the 
minutes glided by as swiftly and unobserved as the tiny waves 
around us. Now we met a solitary fisherman, towing for 
bass, and as we hailed him with a friendly shout, and passed 
by, he began to talk in an under tone, and his voice did not 
die away until we had turned a point. What would I not 
give for an accurate record of that old man's life ! Anon, we 
witnessed the soothing picture of a well-conducted farm, with 
its green-girt cottage, spacious barns, neat and flowing fields, 
and its horses and oxen, cows, sheep, hogs, and poultry. 



SAILING DOWN THE THAMES. 211 

Now we saw some noble men, such as Vernet delighted to 
paint, hauling the seine, and, as the "fruit of all their, toil" 
were thrown upon the sand, their flipping forms reflected 
back the sunlight, reminding us of — anything the reader may 
be pleased to imagine. Now, we were overtaken and tossed 
about by a steamer bound to New Haven ; and then we 
sailed in company with a boat, a sloop, and schooner ; 
meeting others, beating up, from Boston, New York, and 
Philadelphia. And the termination of this pleasing panorama 
was composed of Gale's Ferry, the commanding town, fort, 
and monument of Groton, together with the city of New 
London, among whose anchored shipping floated the saucy 
Revenue Cutter, and at whose docks were chained a goodly 
number of storm-beaten whalers. 

Having taken in "our stores," and obtained from the fish- 
market a basket of bait, we again hoisted sail, " bound first 
to Commit Rock," and " binding" ourselves to capture all of 
the watery enemy which might tempt the power or the dex- 
terity of our arms. 

When about three miles from New London, all eyes were 
attracted by a beautiful craft on our lee, laden with a party 
of ladies and gentlemen. " They're going towards a reef!" 
exclaimed our captain; and no sooner had the words escaped 
his lips, than the stranger struck, and stove a hole through 
her bottom. We were just in time to save the party from a 
watery grave ; and when we had landed them in safety on 
the beach, we were well repaid for our trouble by the con- 
sciousness of having done a good act, and by the thankful 
words and benignant smiles of the ladies fair. A dozen 
minutes more and we were within oar's length of the fishing 
rock. " All ashore, that's coming. !" shouted our mate as 
he stood on the rock, when we all leaped out, and plenty of 
line being given her, the boat swung to, and "like a cradled 
thing at rest," floated upon the waves. Then commenced 



212 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

the sport. The breeze was refreshing, and the breath of the 
salt sea-foam buoyed up our spirits to a higher pitch, and 
gave new vigor to our sinews. The youngest of the party 
was the first who threw his hook, which was snapped in the 
twinkling of an eye. Another trial, and a four-pound black- 
fish lay extended upon the rock. Another, and another, and 
another, until fourscore, even-numbered, came following after. 
Tired of the sport, two of the party entered the boat, and 
hoisted sail for a little cruize. Half an hour had elapsed, 
when the steady breeze changed into a frightful gale, capsiz- 
ing within hailing distance a fishing boat with two old men 
in it. Hanging on, as they were, to the keel of the boat, 
(which, having no ballast, could not sink,) their situation was 
extremely dangerous, as there was not a vessel within two 
miles. The poor men beckoned to us to help them; but as 
our boat was gone, we could not do so, which of course we 
much regretted. For one long, long hour did they thus hang, 
"midway betwixt life and death," exposed to the danger of 
being washed away by the remorseless surge, or swallowed 
up, as we were afterwards told, by a couple of sharks, which 
were kept away only by the hand of Providence. This in- 
cident tended to cool our ardor for fishing, and as we were 
satisfied with that day's luck, we put up our gear, during 
which time the boat arrived, and we embarked for the Hill. 
We made one short turn, however, towards the boat which 
had picked up the fishermen, as we were anxious to tell them 
why we did not come to their relief. We then tacked about, 
and the last words we heard from our companions were : 
"Thank you — thank you — God bless you all," and until we 
had passed a league beyond Fisher's Island, our little vessel 
" carried a most beautiful bone between her teeth." 

At sunset we moored our little boat on the eastern shore of 
Paucatuck Bay. On ascending to the Watch Hill hotel, we 
found it to be a large, well-furnished house, and our host to 



WATCH HILL. 213 

be a fat and jolly Falstaff-ish sort of man, just suited to his 
station. At seven o'clock we sat down to a first-rate black- 
fish supper, then smoked a cigar, and while my companions 
resorted to the ten-pin alley, I buttoned up my pea-jacket, 
and sallied forth on an " exploring expedition." As I stood 
on the highest point of the peninsula, facing the south, I 
found that the light-house stood directly before me, on the 
extreme point, that a smooth beach faded away on either side, 
the left hand one being washed by the Atlantic, and that on 
the right by the waters of Fisher Island Bay, and that the 
dreary hills in my rear were dotted by an occasional dwell- 
ing. The breeze had died away, and the bright, full moon 
was in the cloudless sky. Many sails were in the ofiing, 
passing by and being passed by the Providence and Stoning- 
ton steamboats bound to New York. The scenery around 
me, and the loveliness of the sky, with its galaxy of stars, 
caused me to forget myself, and I wandered far away upon 
the shore — alone, in the awful presence of the great Atlantic 
Ocean. No sounds fell upon my ear, save the muffled roar 
of the ground swell, and the faint whispers of the tiny waves 
as they melted upon the sand. I traced my name, and be- 
side it that of another, a being beauteous, for whose cabinet 
of curiosities I gathered many a round, smooth pebble, and 
many a delicate sea-shell. I wandered on, now gazing with 
wonder and admiration into the cerulean vault of Heaven, or 
into the still deeper blue of the mighty sea ; and now sing- 
ing with a loud voice one of the sacred songs of the sweet singer 
of Israel. Now, a thousand images of surpassing loveliness 
darted across m.y vision, as I thought of God — of an eternal 
life in heaven — and of love, divine and human ; and then 
there came a weight upon my spirit, as I remembered the 
powers of darkness, the destiny of the condemned, and the 
miseries engendered by our evil passions. One moment I 
deemed myself immortal, released forever from the contami- 



214 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

nating influence of sin, and then I thought of the valley of 
death, and trembled. In that communion with the mysteries 
of the universe, strongly blended as they were, I felt that I 
could wander on without fatigue, until the whole earth should 
be trodden by my pilgrim feet. But the chilly air and the 
fading night warned me to retrace my steps, and in an hour 
I had reached my home. 

When the sun rose from his ocean-bed on the following 
morning, surrounded by a magnificent array of clouds, I was 
up, and busily engaged preparing for a day's fishing, — first, 
and before breakfast, for bluefish, then for blackfish, and 
lastly for bass. While my companions were asleep, I went 
out with an old fisherman, and by breakfast time had captured 
thirty bluefish, weighing about two pounds a piece. The 
manner of catching these is to tow for them with a long line, 
the bait being a piece of ivory attached to a strong hook. 
They are a very active and powerful fish, and when hooked, 
make a great fuss, skipping and leaping out of the water. 

At nine o'clock our party were at anchor on a reef about 
one mile off, and for the space of about two hours we hauled 
in the blackfish as fast as possible, many of them weighing 
eight to ten pounds apiece. For them, you must have a small 
straight hook, and for bait, lobsters or crabs. A broiled 
blackfish, when rightly cooked, is considered one of the best 
of salt-water delicacies. 

But the rarest of all fishing is that of catching bass, and a 
first-rate specimen I was permitted to enjoy. About eleven 
o'clock, I jumped into the surf-boat of an old fisherman, 
requesting him to pull for the best bass ground with which 
he was acquainted. In the mean time my friends had ob- 
tained a large boat, and were going to follow us. The spot 
having been reached, we let our boat float, wherever the 
tide and wind impelled it, and began to throw over our lines, 
using for bait the skin of an eel six inches long. Those in 



BASS FISHING. 215 

the neighboring boat had fine luck, as they thought, having 
caught some dozen five-pounders, and they seemed to be 
perfectly transported because nearly an hour had passed and 
I had caught nothing. In their glee they raised a tremen- 
dous shout, but before it had fairly died away, my line was 
suddenly straightened, and I knew that I had a prize. Now 
it cut the water like a streak of lightning, although there 
were two hundred feet out, and as the fish returned I still 
kept it taught; and after playing with him for about forty 
minutes, I succeeded in drowning him, then hauled up gradu- 
ally, and with my boat hook landed him in the boat safe and 
sound. The length of that striped bass was four feet two 
inches, and his weight, before cleaned, fifty-eight pounds. 
You can easily imagine the chop-fallen appearance of my 
brother fishermen, when they found out that " the race is 
not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." At 
three o'clock in the afternoon, a piece of that fish tended to 
gratify the appetite which had been excited by his capture. 

Satisfied with our piscatorial sports, we concluded to spend 
the rest of the day quietly gathering shells upon the beach; 
but causes of excitement were still around us. No sooner 
had we reached the water's edge, than we discovered a group 
of hardy men standing on a little knoll, in earnest conversa. 
tion, while some of them were pointing towards the sea. " To 
the boat! to the boat!" suddenly shouted their leader, when 
they all descended with the speed of Swiss mountaineers, 
and on reaching a boat which had been made ready, they 
pushed her into the surf, and three of them jumped in, and 
thus commenced the interesting scene of hauling the seine. 
There was something new and romantic to us in the thought, 
that the keen and intelligent eye of man could even penetrate 
into the deep, so far as to designate the course of travel of 
the tribes of the sea. And when the seine was drawn, it 
was a glorious and thrilling sight to see those fishermen tug- 



216 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

ging at the lines, or leap into the surf, which sometimes com- 
pletely covered them, to secure the tens of thousands of fish 
which they had caught. There were a grace and beauty 
about the whole scene, which made me long for the genius 
of a Mount or Edmonds. 

A little before sunset, I was again strolling along the shore, 
when the following incident occurred. You will please 
return with me to the spot. Yonder, on that fisherman's 
stake, a little sparrow has just alighted, facing the main. It 
has been lured away from the green bowers of home by the 
music of the sea, and is now gazing, perhaps with feelings 
kindred to my own, upon this most magnificent structure of 
the Almighty hand. See! it spreads its wing, and is now 
darting towards the water — fearless and free. Ah ! it has 
gone too near! for the spray moistens its plumes! There — 
there it goes, frightened back to its native woodland. That 
little bird, so far as its power and importance are concerned, 
seems to me a fit emblem of the mind of man, and this great 
ocean an appropriate symbol of the mind of God. 

The achievements of the human mind " have their passing 
paragraphs of praise, and are forgotten." Man may point to 
the Pyramids of Egypt, which are the admiration of the world, 
and exclaim, " Behold the symbol of my power and import- 
ance!" But most impotent is the boast. Those mighty 
mysteries stand in the solitude of the desert, and the glory of 
their destiny is fulfilled in casting a temporary shadow over 
the tent of the wandering Arab. 

The achievements of the Almighty mind are beyond the 
comprehension of man, and lasting as his own eternity. The 
spacious firmament, with its suns, and moons, and stars ; our 
globe, with its oceans, and mountains, and rivers ; the regu- 
larly revolving seasons ; and the still, small voice continually 
ascending from universal nature, all proclaim the power and 
goodness of their great original. And everything which God 



THE STORM. 217 

has created, from the nameless insect to the world of waters, 
which is the highway of nations, was created for good, was 
created to accomplish some omnipotent end. As this ocean 
is measureless and fathomless, so is it an emblem, beautiful 
but faint, of that wonderful Being, whose throne is above the 
milky-way, and who is himself from everlasting to everlast- 
ing. But see, there is a heavy cloud rising in the west, the 
breeze is freshening, flocks of wild ducks are flying inland, 
and the upper air is ringing with the shrill whistle of the 
bold and wild sea-gull, whose home is the boundless sea ; 
therefore, as my dear friend Noble has somewhere written, 
" the shortest homeward track's the best." 

Still in the present tense would I continue. The witching 
hour of midnight has again returned. A cold rain-storm has 
just passed over, the moon is again the mistress of a cloud- 
less sky, but the wind is still raging in all its fury. 

"I view the ships that come and go, 
Looking so Hke to living things. 
O ! "tis a proud and gallant show 
Of bright and broad-spread wings, 
Making it light around them, as they keep 
Their course right onward through the unsounded deep." 

Dana. 

God be with them and their brave and gallant crews. But, 
again : 

"Where the far-ofi' sand-bars lilt 

Their backs in long and narrow line, 
The breakers shout, and leap, and shift, 

And send the sparkling brine 
Into the air ; then rush to mimic strife ; 
Glad creatures of the sea, and full of life !'' — Ibid. 

But I must stop quoting poetry, for as " a thing of beauty 



218 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

is a joy forever," I should be forever writing about the sea. 
Heavens ! what a terrible song is the ocean singing, with 
his long white hair streaming in the wind! The waving, 
splashing, wailing, dashing, howling, rushing, and moaning 
of the waves is a glorious lullaby, and a fit prelude to a dream 
of the sea. 

At an early hour on the following day, we embarked for 
home, but a sorry time did we have of it, for the winds were 
very lazy. We were ten hours going the distance of twenty- 
two miles. It was now sunset, and we were becalmed off 
Gale's Ferry. Ashore we went, resolved to await the com- 
ing of the Sag Harbor steamboat, which usually arrived about 
nine o'clock, and by which we were, finally, taken in tow. 
Snugly seated in our boat, and going at the rate of eighteen 
miles, we were congratulating ourselves upon an early arrival 
home, and had already begun to divide our fish. But, alas, 
at this moment the painter broke ; the steamer, unconscious 
of our fate, still sped onward, Mobile we sheered off towards 
the shore, almost disgusted with human life in general — for 
our boat was large, and we had but one oar. But what mat- 
ter ? We were a jolly set, and the way we gave three cheers, 
as a prelude to the song of " Begone Dull Care," must have 
been startling to the thousand sleeping echoes of hill, forest, 
river and glen. 

Having crept along at snails' pace about one mile, we con- 
cluded to land, and, if possible, obtain a place to sleep, and 
something to eat ; for not having had a regular dinner, and 
not a mouthful of supper, we were half starved. With clubs 
in our hands, to keep off hobgoblins and bull-dogs, we 
wended our way towards a neighboring farm-house, where 
we knocked for admittance. Pretty soon, a great gawky- 
looking head stuck itself out of an upper window, to which 
we made known our heartfelt desires, receiving, in return, the 



THE SPECTRE. 219 

following answer : — " My wife is sick — hain't got any bread 
— you can go in the barn to sleep if you want to ;" and we 
turned reluctantly away, troubled with a feeling very nearly 
allied to anger. " Come, let's go off in this direction," ex- 
claimed one of the party, " and I'll introduce you to my old 
friend, Captain Somebody;" — and away we posted, two by 
two, across a new-mown field. Presendy, our two leaders 
were awe-stricken by the sudden appearance of something 
white, which seemed to be rising out of the earth, beside a 
cluster of bushes, and the way they \vheeled about, and ran 
for the river, (accompanied by their fellows, whose fright was 
merely sympathetic,) was " a caution" to all unbelievers in 
ghosts and other midnight spectres. 

At last we halted to gain a little breath ; an explanation was 
made; and our captain forthwith resolved to investigate the 
matter. He now took the lead, and on coming to the mys- 
terious spot, discovered an old blind ivkite horse, who had 
been awakened by a noise, and, following the instinct of his 
nature, had risen from his lair, to be better prepared for dan- 
ger. I doubt whether the echoes are yet silent, which were 
caused by the loud and long peals of laughter which resounded 
to the sky. Being in a strange land, without chart or com- 
pass, we could not find the mortal dwelling-place of Captain 
Somebody, and so we changed our course of travel. 

We stopped at another house, farther on, but to save our 
lives we could not obtain an interview, although we entered 
the hen-coop, and set the hens and roosters a cackling and 
crowing — the pig-pen, and set the hogs a squealing — while a 
large dog and two puppies did their best to increase and pro- 
long the mighty chorus. If our farmer friend did not deem 
himself transported to Bedlam, about that time, we imagine 
diat nothing on earth would have the power to give him such 
a dream. Our ill-luck made us almost desperate, and so we 



220 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

returned to the boat, resolved to row the whole distance home, 
could we but find an extra oar. 

It was now eleven o'clock, and the only things that seemed 
to smile upon us were the ten thousand stars, studding the 
clear, blue firmament. Anon, a twinkling light beamed upon 
our vision ; and, as we approached, we found it to proceed 
from a little hut on an island, where the Thames lamplighter 
and his boy were accustomed to pass the night, after their 
work was done. Having again concluded to land, we re- 
ceived a hearty welcome, as the host proved to be an old ac- 
quaintance of our captain and mate. " Have you anything 
to eat ?" was almost the first question of every tongue. " No, 
nothing but this barrel of crackers, and some cheese," ex- 
claimed the man of light. " And we," shouted one of our 
crew, " have plenty offish, — can't we have a chowder?" 
" Ay, ay ; a chowder, a chowder it shall be !" were the words 
which rang aloud to the very heavens. A wherry was dis- 
patched to the main-land, to the well-known habitation of the 
old fisherman, for the necessary iron pot and bowls, and for 
the potatoes and onions, which were dug for the occasion ; 
also for the pork, the pepper, and salt ; all which, added to 
our biscuit and black-fish, nicely cleaned and prepared, con- 
stituted a chowder of the very first water. There was one 
addition to our company, in the person of the old fisherman ; 
and our appearance, as we were seated in a circle on the 
floor, each with a bowl of thick hot soup in his hands, con- 
stituted a picture rich and rare. After we were done, it was 
acknowledged by all, that a better meal had never been en- 
joyed by mortal man. In about thirty minutes from this 
time, the odd one of the company bade us " good night," 
and the midnight brotherhood resigned themselves to sleep. 
The last sounds I heard, before closing my eyes, were caused 
by the regular opposition steamboats from New York, as they 



HOME. 221 

shot ahead ahnost as " swift as an arrow from a shivering 
bow." 

The first faint streak of daylight found us on board our 
boat, homeward bound, wafted on by a pleasant southerly 
breeze. At the usual hour, we were all seated at our respect- 
ive breakfast tables, relating our adventures of the excursion 
just ended. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

A week in a fishing smack — Fishermen — A beautiful morning at sea — 
A day at Nantucket — Wreck of a ship — Night on the Sound — Safe 
arrival. 

Norivich, Conn , August. 
On a pleasant Monday morning- I started from Norwich, 
bound to New London, and from thence to any other portion 
of the world where I might have some sport in the way of 
salt water fishing. In less than an hour after landing from 
the steamboat, I had boarded the handsome smack Orleans, 
Captain Keeney, and by dint of much persuasion, secured a 
berth on board to accompany him on a fishing voyage. In 
addition to my previous preparation, I had only to purchase 
a Guernsey shirt and tarpaulin ; and by the time I was regu- 
larly equipped, the sails were hoisted, and we were on our 
course for Nantucket. An intimate acquaintance was soon 
formed between myself and crew, which consisted of the 
master, two sailors, and the cook. The whole time that I 
spent in their company was six days, as I reached home on 
the following Saturday evening. The incidents that I met 
with were somewhat new, as a matter of course, and I em- 
ployed a few moments of every evening, during my absence, 
in briefly recording the events of the past day ; and that 
medley I now put together as a literary chowder. 



SMACK FISHERMEN. 223 

Monday Evening. My observations to-day have been 
limited to our little vessel, in consequence of a dense fog, 
which drenched us to the skin, and seems likely to continue 
us in this state of preservation. I have obtained some infor- 
mation, however, concerning- the character of an interesting 
class of men, which may be new to you. Smack-fishermen 
are a brave, hardy, honest, and simple-hearted race, and, as 
my captain tells me, spend nine-tenths of their time " rocked 
in the cradle of the deep." Their vessels, or smacks, are 
generally of about forty tons burden ; the number of those 
which supply New York and Boston with fish is said to be 
near a thousand, and they are all at home anywhere on the 
coast between the Kennebeck and the Delaware. Of the perils 
which these fishermen endure, and the privations they suffer, 
how little is known or thought by the great world at large ! 
Yet I believe there is as much genuine happiness in their 
lives, as in those of any other class. Their fathers were 
fishermen before them, and as they themselves have mostly 
been born within hearing of the surf, they look upon the un- 
sounded deep as their fitting home, their only home, and 
would not part with it for a palace or a crown. Four is the 
usual number of a smack's crew, and the master is invariably 
called a skipper. Most of them are worthy husbands and 
fathers, whose families are snugly harbored in some con- 
venient seaport, with enough and to spare of the good things 
of life. They are a jovial set of men, hailing each other 
upon the ocean as friends, and meeting upon land as 
brothers. Each skipper thinks his craft the handsomest and 
swiftest that floats, and very exciting are the races they some- 
times run. Their aff'eclion for their own vessel is like that 
of the Arab for his steed, and like the Arab, too, they have 
been known even to weep over the grave of their darling 
and their pride. 

The kinds of fish which they mostly bring to market are 



224 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

shad, salmon, lobsters, mackerel, cod, bluefisli, haddock, black- 
fish, paugies,bass, and halibut. The first three are generally 
purchased of local fishermen, but all the rest are caught by 
themselves. The haunts of the blackfish are rocky reefs, 
those of the bass and bluefish in the vicinity of sandy shoals 
or tide rips, and those of the remainder in about fifteen 
fathoms water. These are the varieties they capture by 
way of business, but when in a frolicsome mood, they fre- 
quently attack a sword-fish, a shark, or black whale ; soul- 
thrilling, indeed, and laughable withal, are the yarns they spin 
concerning these exploits. 

As to their mode of living, while at sea, it is just what it 
should be, and what they would have it, although it would 
be " positively shocking" to a Bond Street gentleman of lei- 
sure. But they always possess a good appetite, which is 
what money cannot purchase, and without which the greatest 
delicacy in the world would be insipid or loathsome. Fish, 
sea-biscuit, corn-beef and pork, potatoes, onions, and pan- 
cakes, constitute their provisions, and what besides these 
would a reasonable man desire ? It is with a mixture of 
some of these, that a chowder is concocted, and where can 
anything more delicious be found, even at the tables of the 
Astor and American ? And with these ingredients, more- 
over, they manage very well to keep body and soul together, 
unless a storm on a rock-bound coast happens to make a 
sudden separation. 

I have just been on deck, and must say that I resume my 
pen with a heavier heart. The fog has not dispersed in the 
least, a regular gale of wind is blowing from the north, and 
the waves, seemingly in a revengeful mood, are tossing our 
bark about, as if the skipper, like the Ancient Mariner, had 
shot another albatros. But like a fearless man, as he is, he 
stands at the helm, watching the sails with a steady eye, and 
the men with their storm-jackets on are standing by, mutter- 



BEAUTIFUL MORNING. 225 

ing something about the coming darkness, and a reef some- 
where on our lee. Never before have I so distinctly under- 
stood the force of the Psalmist's simile, when he compares 
a wave to a drunken man reeling to and fro. Both have it 
in their power to cause a mighty mischief, and both become 
exhausted and perish, — one upon a sandy beach, and the 
other, sweeping over the peninsula of time, finds a grave 
on the shore of oblivion. Heavens! how the wind whistles, 
and the waters roar! Ay, but a still small voice salutes my 
ear, and I lay me down to sleep, with a prayer upon my lips, 
and a feeling of security at my heart, as I place implicit con- 
fidence in Him who holdeth the ocean in the hollow of his 
hand. 

Tuesday Evening. I was awakened out of a deep sleep 
this morning by the following salutation from the skipper, as 
he patted me on the shoulder. " It's a beautiful morning, 
and you ought to be up; — the fog is gone, and the wind is 
down; won't you come up and take the helm awhile, so 
that the boys and I may obtain a litde sleep before reaching 
the fishing-ground, which will be about ten o'clock ?" I was 
delighted to accept the invitation, and in a very short time 
the sailors were asleep, and I in my new station, proud as a 
king, and happy as a sinless boy. And O that I could de- 
scribe the scene that fascinated my eyes as I lay there upon 
the deck, with one hand resting on the rudder, and my other 
hand grasping a Claude glass ! I felt as I once felt before, 
when standing on the famous precipice of Niagara, that then, 
more than ever, I desired God to be my friend. I also felt, 
that, if the world did not demand the feeble services of my 
life, I should wish to remain upon the ocean forever, provided 
I could have " one fair being for my minister." More ear- 
nestly than ever did I long for a complete mastery of the pic- 
torial art. The fact of being out sight of land, where the blue 
element announced that the ocean was soundless, filled my 
15 



226 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

soul with that " lone, lost feeling," which is supposed to be 
the eagle's, when journeying to the zenith of the sky. The 
sun had just risen above the waves, and the whole eastern 
portion of the heavens was flooded with the most exquisite 
coloring I ever beheld, — from the deepest crimson to the 
faintest and most delicate purple, from the darkest yellow to 
an almost invisible green; and all blended, too, in myriad 
forms of marvellous loveliness. A reflection of this scene 
was also visible in the remaining quarters of the horizon. 
Around me the illimitable deep, whose bosom is studded with 
many a gallant and glittering ship, 

that have the plain 



Of ocean for their own domain. 

The waves are lulling themselves to rest, and a balmy 
breeze is wandering by, as if seeking its old grandfather, who 
kicked up the grand rumpus last night; whereby I learn, that 
the offspring of a " rough and stormy sire," are sometimes 
very beautiful and affectionate to the children of men. But 
look! even the dwellers in the sea and of the sea are partici- 
pating in the hilarity of this bright summer morning ! Here, 
a school of herring are skipping along like a frolicsome 
party of vagabonds as they are, — and yonder a shark has 
leaped out of the water, to display the symmetry of his form 
and the largeness of his jaw, and looking as if he thought, 
"that land-habber would make me a first rate breakfast;" 
there, a lot of porpoises are playing "leap-frog," or some 
other outlandish game; and, a little beyond them, a gentle- 
man sword-fish is swaggering along to parts unknown, to 
fight a duel in cold blood with some equally cold-blooded 
native of the Atlantic; and now, a flock of gulls are cleaving 
their course to the south, to the floating body perhaps of a 
drowned mariner, which their sagacity has discovered a league 
or two away : — and now, again, I notice a flock of petrels, 



COD FISHING. 227 

hastening onward to where the winds blow and the waves are 
white. Such are the pictures I beheld in my brief period of 
command. It may have been but fancy, but I thought my 
little vessel was trying to eclipse her former beauty and her 
former speed. One thing I know, that she " walked the 
water like a thing of life." I fancied, too, that I was the 
identical last man whom Campbell saw in his vision, and 
that I was then bound to the haven of eternal rest. But my 
shipmates returning from the land of Nod, and a certain 
clamor within my own body having caught my ear, I became 
convinced that to break my fast would make me happier than 
anything else just at that time, and I was soon as contented 
as an alderman at five P. M. About two hours after this, we 
reached our fishing-place, which was twenty miles east of 
Nantucket. We then lowered the jib and topsail, and having 
lufTed and fastened the mainsheet, so that the smack could 
easily float, we hauled out our lines and commenced fishing, 
baiting our hooks with clams, of which we had some ten 
bushels on board. Cod fishing (for we were on a codding 
cruize) is rather dull sport; it is, in fact, what I would call 
hard labor. In six hours we had caught all the skipper 
wanted, or that the well would hold, so we made sail again, 
bound to New York; and at supper-time the deck of our 
smack was as clean and dry as if it had never been pressed 
save by the feet of ladies. At sunset, however, a fierce 
southerly wind sprang up, so that we were compelled to 
make a harbor; and just as I am closing this record, we are 
anchoring off Nantucket, with a score of storm-beaten whalers 
on our starboard bow. 

Wednesday Evening. The weather to-day has been quite 
threatening, and the skipper thought it best to remain at our 
moorings; but with me the day has not been devoid of in- 
terest; for, in my sailor garb, I have been strolling about the 
town, studying the great and solemn drama of life, while 



228 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

playfully acting a subordinate part myself. This morning-, 
as it happened, I went into the public graveyard, and spent 
an hour conning over the rude inscriptions to the memory of 
the departed. In that city of the dead I saw a number of 
the living walking to and fro, but there was one who attracted 
my particular attention. He was a sailor, and was seated upon 
an unmarked mound, with his feet resting upon a smaller 
one beside it, his head reclined upon one hand, while the 
other was occasionally passed across his face, as if wiping 
away a tear. I hailed him with a few kind questions, and 
my answ^er was the following brief tale : — 

" Yes, sir, four years ago I shipped aboard that whaler, 
yonder, leaving behind me, in a sweet little cottage of my 
own, a mother, a wife, and an only boy. They were alliii 
the enjoyment of good health, and happy; and, when we 
were under sail, and I saw from the mast-head how kindly 
they waved their handkerchiefs beside my door, I, too, was 
happy, even in my hour of grief. Since that time I have 
circumnavigated the globe, and every rare curiosity I could 
obtain, was intended for my darling ones at home. Last 
Saturday our ship returned, when I landed, flew to my 
dwelling, and found it locked. The flagging in my yard at- 
tracted my notice, and I thought it strange that the rank grass 
had been sufi^ered to grow over it so thickly. The old minis- 
ter passed by my gate, and running to him with extended 
hand, I inquired for my family. 'Oh, Mr. B.,' said he, 
' you must bless the Lord ; — he gave them to you, and he 
hath taken them away.' And as the thought stole into my 
brain, my suflering, sir, w^as intense, and I longed to die. 
And there they are, my wife and darling child, and, a step or 
two beyond, my dear old mother. Peace to their memories !" 

Such is the simple story I heard in the Nantucket grave- 
yard, and I have pondered much upon the world of woe 



SAILOR LIFE. 329 

which must have been hidden in the breast of that old ma- 
riner. 

After dinner to-day, I strolled into the company of some 
fishermen who were going after bass and bluefish, and in a 
short time I had captured, with my own hands, two big bass 
and some dozen bluefish — which I packed in ice as a present 
to some New York friends. 

At my present time of writing, which is near ten o'clock 
at night, we are weighing anchor, and the skipper tells me 
we shall be in New York by to-morrow's sunset. An hour 
before coming on board this evening, I lounged into a sailor 
boarding-house, and mingled as freely with a company of 
whalemen there, as if I had ever been a bona fide member 
of the craft. I heard a great deal that interested me, and 
was sorry that I could not remain longer. There were some 
in that company lately arrived from every portion of the 
world, and yet they were engaged in the same business, and 
had journeyed on the same mighty highway of nations. 
One was descanting upon the coral islands of the torrid 
zone ; another upon the ice-mountains of the Arctic Sea ; a 
third was describing the coast of California; and another the 
waters that lave the eastern shore of Asia. The more I 
listened to these men, the more did the immensity of ocean 
expand before my mind, and in the same proportion was I 
led to wonder at the wisdom of the Almighty. 

I have just been on deck, and find that we are on the way 
to our desired haven, wafted by a steady and pleasant breeze. 
Our course is between Martha's Vineyard and Rhode Island, 
which is a route studded with islands and seaports, that now 
appear in the cool starlight like the pictures of a dream. 

Thursday Evening, Instead of coming through the 
Sound last night, we headed our vessel outside of Long Is- 
land, and after a delightful sail, have realized our skipper's 
promise, for we are now floating beside the market in New 



230 A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY. 

York. The reason assigned for taking the outside course 
was, that the fish would keep better, on account of the greater 
coldness of the water. Nothing of peculiar interest has 
happened to us to-day, except the meeting with a wreck off 
Sandy Hook. It was the hull of a large ship, whose name 
Ave could not discern. It had a very old appearance, and 
from the moss and sea-weed that covered it, we supposed it 
must have been afloat for many months, the plaything of the 
waves. "Man marks the earth with ruin," but who is it 
that scatters such splendid ruins upon the ocean ? And a 
thousand remorseless surges echo back the answer : " To us 
belong the glory of those deeds." If that wreck had lan- 
guage, what a strange, eventful history would it reveal ! Its 
themes would be, — home and all its treasures lost ; the sea, 
and all its dangers ; the soul, and all its agonies ; the heart, 
and all its sufferings. But when we multiply all this as fast 
as time is multiplying it, we cannot but realize the idea, that 
human life is but a probationary state, and that sorrow and 
sighing are our earthly inheritance. 

Friday Evening. After portioning out my fish this morn- 
ing, and sending them to my friends, I put on my usual dress, 
and having obtained a six hours' furlough, set off towards 
Broadway, where, between the reading rooms and the studios 
of a few artists, I managed to spend my time quite pleasantly. 
At noon, we embarked for home, and had a delightful time, 
passing through the East River, and that pleasing panorama 
from the city to the Sound never appeared more beautiful. 

It is now quite late, and I have been on deck all the even- 
ing alone. In a thoughtful mood I fixed my eyes upon the 
stars, and my spirits were saddened by the continual murmur 
of the sea. Of what avail, thought I, is all this excitement ? 
Why was I created, and what, O what is my destiny ? Is it to 
sail for a few brief years longer upon the ocean of life, and, 
when the death-tempest overtakes me, to pass away unloved 



THE END. 231 

and unremembered by a single human heart? If not an 
honored name, can I not leave behind me an humble memory 
that will be cherished by a few, a very few, to whom I have 
laid bare my innermost soul, when I was younger than I am 
now and a hundred-fold more happy ? What ! night ! what 
is my destiny ? 

Saturday Evening. We anchored off New London to- 
day, in time for me to take the evening steamer for Norwich. 
When I parted with my " shipmates," I shook each one af- 
fectionately by the hand, and thought that I might travel 
many years without finding a brotherhood of nobler men. 
I reached home as the eight o'clock bells were ringing, and 
was reminded that another week of precious time was for- 
ever gone. That it must be remembered as an unprofitable 
one, I cannot believe, for I feel that my soul has been enlarged 
and my heart humbled, by listening to the teachings of the 
mighty deep. 



THE END. 



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